Martin Ayub (Pinball News) and Jonathan Joosten (Pinball Magazine) discuss the pinball industry news of the past month at the beginning of a new month.
Feb 2025: FunSub launch, Big Lebowski ends, Alice Kickstarter confirmed for March 11.
D&D launches amid mixed early impressions; Gary Stern discusses licensing, market segmentation, and industry strategy.
2025 really started with a bang with a new game reveal by one company and big changes at another, while the show season got off to a flying start in both the US and the UK. So, Jonathan from Pinball Magazine and Martin from Pinball News are back to bring you all the exciting news from the industry throughout the month of January in their Pinball Industry News PINcast. Last month’s PINcast anticipated the reveal of Stern Pinball’s first new release of the year, and sure enough Dungeons & Dragons: The Tyrant’s Eye duly launched, with public premieres soon after at CES in Las Vegas and EAG Expo in London. Jonathan and Martin were at EAG to play it, but they also got to sit down with Gary Stern, John Buscaglia and Doug Skor from Stern Pinball to talk about the new game, the latest news from the company as well as the state of the wider industry, while Gary also shared his cooking tips. Big changes at American Pinball where their EVP David Fix is one of many staff no longer working there as the owners look to transition the company into a contract manufacturer. Whith hardly anyone left, what does are the prospects for their seventh title which is ready to launch? To find out, the duo speak to David Fix about his departure and those of his fellow employees, while exploring the convoluted way American Pinball has been managed in recent years, where the business is now, and which of their many development projects might yet see the light of day. One feature being newly integrated into one American Pinball game is the Scorbit scores and achievements tracking system. But they aren’t the only ones adding Scorbit, as Pedretti Pinball announce it will also feature in the next code update to their Funhouse Remake game. Speaking of which, there are lots of new code updates this month, including Jersey Jack Pinball’s Avatar: The Battle for Pandora reaching feature-complete v1.00 status and Spooky Pinball’s Looney Tunes getting its new wizard mode.
Stern confirms D&D cornerstone, JJP teases Harry Potter, major code updates released.
The start of 2025 sees the Pinball Industry News PINcast embark on its eighth year of bringing you all the exciting news from across the wonderful world of pinball. In this latest episode, Jonathan from Pinball Magazine and Martin from Pinball News look back at the events throughout December as well as the first couple of days of January. Stern Pinball launch their latest cornerstone game, Dungeons & Dragons: The Tyrant’s Eye, while at the same time locking away a bunch of their popular titles in the vault for a minimum of two years. There’s also news on the Stern Pinball Cup race series as well as a fix kit for one of their recent releases. Jersey Jack Pinball have been teasing their much-anticipated Harry Potter game, but there is a big price cut available on one of their previous titles, although only for a limited time. Meanwhile, owners of another JJP title finally gets their wizard mode added after years of waiting. There’s more teasing over at Pedretti Pinball where there might be clues to be found about their next remake title. Buyers of the earlier Funhouse 2.0 kit haven’t been forgotten about either, with a new kit available to add a much-requested feature. There are sales and production updates from Spooky Pinball, Chicago Gaming, Multimorphic and Turner Pinball, while over at American Pinball there’s much uncertainty about future plans for the company with several key employees having been laid-off. No such worries at Vector Pinball as a new machine in their Aussie Icons series is launched, while Barrels of Fun’s Barrel Ball gameplay mode gains a new (although somewhat familiar) voice. There’s much more news from Homepin, Pinball Adventures, Pinball Brothers, Dutch Pinball Exclusive, Hexa Pinball, Wonderland Amusements and TiltBob Pinball, along with the latest developments in the ongoing Deeproot civil and criminal prosecutions and also a look ahead to January’s EAG Expo show in London.
Spooky announces Evil Dead; JJP unveils Pinball XP redemption system launching Q1 2025.
It’s the final show of 2024 and Jonathan from Pinball Magazine and Martin from Pinball News have a lot of exciting news to bring you from the right across the pinball world throughout November in the latest edition of their Pinball Industry News PINcast. There’s a new game launch as Spooky Pinball announce their latest title, Evil Dead, which boasts assets from both the first two movies as well as custom speech from the lead actor, all crammed into a widebody, multi-mech, richly-artworked cabinet. If the prospect of getting one of the 888 Collector’s Edition machines not enough to rattle your chains, you can also get a striking animated topper. After dipping their toe in the redemption pool ten years ago, Jersey Jack Pinball have made a big splash with their new Pinball XP redemption pinball system for larger family entertainment centres (FECs). It’s an impressive-looking showcase for JJP’s games and an excellent way to boost your redemption card’s value while having fun playing pinball. To find out more, Jonathan and Martin call up Jersey Jack himself, Jack Guarnieri, who is in Australia for the Melbourne Pinball Expo from where he explains how Pinball XP works and what those at the company are hoping to achieve with it. November means Black Friday and Cyber Monday, and this year there were loads of exciting deals on entire games, pinball parts and company merchandise. American Pinball had the greatest discounts with up to $3,000 off their top-end titles. There were plenty of savings on other models too, swiftly followed by 30% off parts and merchandise. Jersey Jack Pinball were in on the Black Friday fun too, with $1,000 off some of their titles, while Hexa Pinball in France took €500 off both models of their Space Hunt game. Hexa Pinball also announced a significant investment in their company from a very different games company. Who are they and what might that mean for future sales and future titles?
October 2024 recap: Alice revealed, Metallica remastered, Barrels of Fun expands
This month’s PINcast comes from the Dutch Pinball Open Expo and marks a unique moment as, for the first time ever, Jonathan from Pinball Magazine and Martin from Pinball News present their monthly Pinball Industry News PINcast while actually together at the same desk. Plus, they bring in two special guests, with David van Es from Barrels of Fun and Daniel Janson from Pinball Brothers, both of whom have some exciting news to share. However, as you’ll hear, not everything went entirely to plan. October’s Pinball Industry News largely revolved around the 40th anniversary Pinball Expo, the manufacturers stands, their seminar presentations and their factory tours. Dutch Pinball Exclusive, having revealed their Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland title earlier in the month, premiered the now sold-out game at Pinball Expo with three machines on their stand for guests to play, and also held a seminar about the making of the game. Meanwhile, Stern Pinball, off the back of announcing their The Uncanny X-Men brought out another new title with Metallica Remastered – an updated and enhanced version of their 2013 Metallica game. They premiered this on their Pinball Expo factory tour and then brought it to their stand at the show, along with a seminar by the game’s designer John Borg. There were multiple talks at Pinball Expo from the pinball makers explaining how they created their latest releases, including Avatar: The Battle for Pandora, The Uncanny X-Men, John Wick and Jaws, along with tours of Stern Pinball, Jersey Jack Pinball, American Pinball and Chicago Gaming. Naturally, Jonathan and Martin were both there to report on the excitement and bring you video recordings of the key seminars. Then, a fortnight later, they reunited in Veldhoven in the Netherlands for the 25th anniversary Dutch Pinball Open Expo from where they recorded this latest October 2024 edition of the Pinball Magazine and Pinball News PINcast – the podcast the pinball industry listens to.
JJP Avatar reveal dominates September 2024 with UV tech, dual lower playfields, and Mark Seiden interview on design process.
Can you believe it’s already the start of another new month? The good news is that a new month means a new Pinball Industry News PINcast with Jonathan Joosten from Pinball Magazine and Martin Ayub from Pinball News. Having covered the first few days of the month in the previous PINcast, the duo look back on all the excitement from the pinball world throughout the remainder of September. After numerous teases, Jersey Jack Pinball finally announced their tenth game with the launch of Avatar: The Battle for Pandora. Featuring six flippers, three under-playfield areas and numerous wireforms criss-crossing the playfield, perhaps the greatest innovation is the use of UV-reactive ink across the playfield, plastics, inserts and sculpts. There’s also a first-time pinball artist who created the playfield, cabinet and backbox art package, as well as a musician who composed the music for his first ever production pinball. To find out much more about them and the rest of the game, Jonathan and Martin are joined by the game’s designer, Mark Seiden. Having launched their latest title just a few days earlier, Stern Pinball have been busy building and promoting their The Uncanny X-Men with video streams of gameplay along with a number of changes based on audience feedback. The company has been busy in Europe too, attending the IAAPA Europe event en masse, as well as hosting an evening with Gary Stern at the Dutch Pinball Museum. October is Pinball Expo month, so this latest PINcast looks ahead at what we can expect from all the major players at the show. There’s also full details of the extensive seminar schedule and how you can get to enjoy all the main talks even if you can’t be there in person.
Stern launches X-Men cornerstone game; JJP teases ambitious Avatar with six flippers.
It may have been delayed by a few days to include the latest game launches and teases, but Jonathan Joosten from Pinball Magazine and Martin Ayub from Pinball News are back with the latest edition of their Pinball Industry News PINcast covering the month of August and the start of September. Stern Pinball got their new game launch in first with The Uncanny X-Men featuring some innovative shots in a truly ‘uncanny’ playfield design from Jack Danger. But that’s not the only new release from Jack, as his Jurassic Park Home Edition design is relaunched as a ‘Plus’ model, featuring a plywood playfield and a coin door, with the Inside Connected system also included. Find out where you can get it at a big discount to Stern’s own pricing. In a busy month for the company, Stern also launched a new machine rental programme for corporate customers, while also releasing a new speaker lighting system to bring Limited Edition-style lighting effects to Pro and Premium models. Jersey Jack Pinball also have a new game to launch. The reveal of Avatar: The Battle for Pandora will be on the 12th September, but the company has been busy running a series of teases. Find out more exclusive details about the game direct from Jersey Jack himself in this month’s PINcast. Meanwhile, American Pinball’s EVP, David Fix, has been in the UK and was the guest at the UK Pinfest show where he gave an extended talk to show guests. Find out how you can watch it too, and get more details of their new Aura backbox lighting system. There’s news about the production of The Princess Bride kits and machines, Spooky Pinball’s factory expansion, teases for DPX’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, the first public showing of Homepin’s The Blues Brothers game, Turner Pinball’s Ninja Eclipse production progress, the latest in the Haggis Pinball saga, plus all the latest code updates.
Haggis Pinball folds amid fraud allegations; Stern announces Godzilla edition and art leadership change.
The summer months are traditionally a quiet time for news in the pinball industry. Not so this year, so join Jonathan Joosten from Pinball Magazine and Martin Ayub from Pinball News as they bring you all the excitement from the pinball world in the latest edition of their Pinball Industry News PINcast. July’s news is dominated by the collapse of Haggis Pinball and the disappearance of the company’s head Damian Hartin along with any remaining stock and machines. With no assets left and millions of Australian dollars in debts, anyone who paid Haggis directly for a Fathom or Centaur remake is left at the back of a long line of creditors. Happier news from Stern Pinball, as they both announce a new black-and-white anniversary edition of their Godzilla title and also celebrate the well-deserved retirement of Art Director, Greg Freres. Meanwhile a famous face pays a visit to the Stern Pinball stand at the San Diego ComiCon to play the game in which he stars. Who could that be? That’s not the only time that happens this month though, as down in Austin a certain “Weird Al” pops up at the Multimorphic stand to visit his Museum of Natural Hilarity game. There’s news of two pinball machine giveaways – one from Stern and one from American Pinball. Get all the details and find out how you can be in with a chance of winning either or both. Pedretti Pinball are shipping both models of their Funhouse remake, while Pinball Brothers are shipping both versions of their ABBA game - all from the same factory - while in Topperland Pinball Brothers have shipped all their pre-order Alien toppers and Spooky Pinball has done the same with their Scooby-Doo toppers. Both now have extra stock for immediate delivery if you’d still like one. Pinball Adventures are taking a step back as they look to bring the fun back to pinball making and make it less of a chore. Find out what that means for production of their upcoming Elements and Sushi Mania titles.
June 2024 pinball industry recap shows slower sales, multiple game shipments, and emerging score-tracking tech speculation.
Here we are at the half-way point of 2024, so that means it’s time to join Jonathan Joosten from Pinball Magazine and Martin Ayub from Pinball News for their regular monthly look back at all the excitement from the pinball world in the latest June edition of their Pinball Industry News PINcast. The flurry of new game announcements has slowed as manufacturers get around to actually building and shipping their latest titles. Pedretti Pinball are first with their Funhouse Remake games, while Pinball Brothers and Multimorphic are also poised to start their own deliveries. In addition, Pinball Brothers announced several new modes and two new songs have been added to their ABBA pinball. Elsewhere, there are Fourth-of-July-related announcements from American Pinball and Stern Pinball, while Stern have also launched a new John Wick ‘contracts’ feature as part of their Insider Connected system. They also have a new range of accessories for their Jaws title, including a topper. There are production and timeline updates from Barrels of Fun, Spooky Pinball, Chicago Gaming and Multimorphic with details of what their plans are for the rest of the year and into early 2025. There is more news and code updates from all the major pinball makers, while the Securities and Exchange Commission’s civil case against Deeproot founder Robert Mueller is finally settled. Find out what was agreed and what it might mean for any potential criminal prosecution. Get all this and much more in this latest June 2024 edition of the Pinball Magazine and Pinball News PINcast – the podcast the pinball industry listens to. There's so much happening right now and coming up in the pinball world, so join Jonathan and Martin each month to make sure you don’t miss any of it.
It’s a new month, so time to join Jonathan and Martin for a brand new edition of the Pinball Magazine and Pinball News joint Pinball Industry News PINcast looking back on May and the first few days of June. This month’s PINcast is just slightly later than usual to make sure it can include the latest breaking news on the announcement by Dutch Pinball Exclusive about their first title. Jonathan and Martin discuss what it means, the history of the title and when you can expect to see it. There were also three new game titles launched in May. John Wick from Stern Pinball caused plenty of controversy, as much for the lack of visible weaponry as for the game itself. With several podcasters taking issue with the company and their products, Stern invited a bunch of them over to get a better understanding of how pinball is made and the challenges faced. Meanwhile Pedretti Gaming released full details of their first remake game, Funhouse, together with the differences between the two new versions and the all-important pricing. Finally, a new game for Multimorphic’s P3 was released by Ian Harrower with his Blood Bank Billiards add-on title. Although not announcing a new title, there was much speculation around American Pinball this month. So, to get to the bottom of things, Jonathan and Martin interview American’s Vice President, David Fix. In an extended in-depth discussion they find out about sales for current titles, details and the timing of upcoming releases, what the floatation of their parent company means for the pinball operation, who has left the company, the pinball market in general, and much, much more. Plus there’s all the news from the many companies designing and manufacturing pinball machines right around the world. Get all this and much more in this latest edition of the Pinball Magazine and Pinball News PINcast.
April 2024: ABBA launches, HomePin announces Blues Brothers with open-source modding.
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 throughout April in their latest Pinball Industry News PINcast. The month began with the announcement, reveal and launch party for the new ABBA game from Pinball Brothers. Both Jonathan and Martin travelled to the Swedish city of Örebro to experience both versions of the company’s third game for themselves and to report on the launch event. Meanwhile, another new game is revealed as Homepin also announce their third title. Following Thunderbirds and This Is Spinal Tap, the new game is another licence, The Blues Brothers. As revealed in last month’s PINcast the new title will feature open source software, but there are many more interesting details about the game to discuss. If you thought the demise of Deeproot Pinball signalled the end of the line for those games in development at the company, there’s news of the possible revival of titles such as Retro Atomic Zombie Adventureland, Magic Girl and more. Plus, there’s lots more news of pinball companies exhibiting at shows, all the latest code updates, new videos and articles, the potential timescale for upcoming new game announcements, and a novel way to get help building games. There's so much happening right now and coming up in the pinball world, so join Jonathan and Martin each month to make sure you don’t miss any of it.
Pinball Brothers' ABBA game launches with 800-unit limit, story-driven gameplay, and June 2024 shipments.
It's time to join Jonathan from Pinball Magazine and Martin from Pinball News for a special bonus PINcast featuring an extended interview with Pinball Brothers CEO, Daniel Janson. They talk about the latest Pinball Brothers release, ABBA, to find out how the game came to be created, what's in the game right now, what's going to be in it eventually, what changes they have made, and Pinball Brothers' plans for production of this and future titles. They discuss the recent ABBA pinball launch party, the multiple elements which go to make up the game, who was involved in creating all the assets, and the possibility of a third, unlimited version of the game. There's so much to discuss, so join Daniel as he explains the rules and how it all ties-in so closely to the ABBA Voyage holographic stage show. It's all in this special Pinball Industry News PINcast - the pinball podcast the industry listens to.
The start of another new month means it’s time to join Jonathan Joosten from Pinball Magazine and Martin Ayub from Pinball News for their look back at all the exciting news from the pinball world throughout March in their Pinball Industry News PINcast. There are two new games to discuss this month – one already launched and one about to be revealed – plus a radical update to another new title. American Pinball released their latest title with a tribute to legendary pinball designer, Barry Oursler, in their Barry O’s Barbecue Challenge game. A dozen models were shipped to locations across the US for public play the day following the reveal, after which it became the star of American Pinball’s stand at the Texas Pinball Festival. Just as this month’s PINcast was being recorded, Pinball Brothers confirmed that their third game title would be based on the hugely-popular Swedish band ABBA. A full reveal is coming shortly, while there will be a launch party to mark exactly 50 years to the day since the group was launched onto the global stage by winning the Eurovision Song Contest. There’s also much more news from Pinball Brothers with some personnel changes at the very top of the company. While not announcing their next game just yet, Dutch Pinball celebrate a milestone by launching a new offshoot called Dutch Pinball Exclusive (DPX) to produce short-run titles of 500 or fewer units. It hasn’t been officially confirmed, but the likely first DPX title is discussed along with potential timescales for production. Last month there was news of a record-breaking auction price for a Jersey Jack Pinball Elton John Collector’s Edition machine, but this month that record was itself smashed. Get all the details. Turner Pinball returned to the Texas Pinball Festival with a very different look to their Ninja Eclipse game, taking onboard much of the feedback from their appearance at Pinball Expo last October.
As we leap into March it's time to join Jonathan Joosten from Pinball Magazine and Martin Ayub from Pinball News as they look back on all the excitement from the pinball world throughout February. There's a new game launch as the mystery makers of The Princess Bride pinball reveal themselves as Multimorphic and introduce us to the three versions of their ground-breaking latest release. After a long silence, Haggis Pinball communicates with pre-order buyers of their upcoming Centaur Revisited game. There are changes afoot at the company, with the trickle of games coming from the factory expected to slow even more. This month sees the 20th anniversary edition of the Texas Pinball Festival. Jonathan and Martin will be there of course, reporting and hosting their popular 'So You Think You Know Pinball?' free prize quiz on Saturday. They look ahead to who will be exhibiting their latest games at the show, who's speaking in the seminar sessions, and why you need to be there. Plus, there are the latest updates from all the pinball manufacturers, including a 'making of' video for Venom, a charity auction of Elton John Collector's Edition game #002 at Christie's, new translites available for all their titles from Spooky Pinball, expected announcements of the next games from Dutch Pinball and Homepin and why one of them will be open-sourced, along with the free download of the manual for Pulp Fiction available right now. All this and much more is packed into this latest edition of the Pinball Industry News PINcast. Ensure you haven’t missed out on any of the excitement by streaming or downloading the podcast the pinball industry listens to. There's much more of this excitement coming up, so join Jonathan and Martin each month to make sure you don’t miss any of it.
Stern Pinball Jaws launch dominates January 2024; Gary Stern discusses IC strategy and operations.
It’s time to talk pinball, and who better to talk about the industry, the hobby, the rumours and the latest developments than the heads of three of the biggest pinball companies? Join Jonathan from Pinball Magazine and Martin from Pinball News in this latest edition of their Pinball Industry News PINcast looking back at all the exciting news from the pinball world throughout the month of January 2024. The duo got together for the EAG International Expo coin-op trade show in London to play the latest titles from seven different manufacturers, including two models of Stern Pinball’s newest game, Jaws. To find out more about how that game was created and the latest developments at Stern Pinball, they sat down with company Chairman, Gary Stern. You can hear their interview with Gary exclusively in this month’s PINcast. American Pinball has been the subject of plenty of rumourmongering of late, much of it unfounded. To get at the facts, Jonathan and Martin talk to the company’s Executive Vice President, David Fix, to find out the steps being taken to bolster their customer support, how they are introducing a new board system into their future and previous games, when their next game might be announced, why the company definitely isn’t for sale, and much more. While at the EAG International Expo, your PINcast hosts also got to sit down for dinner with head of Jersey Jack Pinball, Jack Guarnieri. Jack was there to promote his company’s Elton John and The Godfather games which were being exhibited and earning very favourable reactions from those who got to play them. You can hear that ‘Dinner with Jack’ exclusively in this month’s edition of the PINcast. Plus, there is news from all the manufacturers exhibiting at the EAG show, including details of how pinball is re-joining the line-up of games at one large coin-op distributor and operator, and who might be behind a mysterious new upcoming game launch.
Jaws launches, Spooky announces dual titles, Stern expands Europe and changes LE policy.
Out with the old, in with the new. Yes, it’s a new year and that means new games to bring you in a brand new edition of the Pinball Magazine and Pinball News Pinball Industry News PINcast looking back at the month of December 2023 and the first week of January 2024. The launch of new games was trailed in last month’s PINcast and, sure enough, both Stern Pinball and Spooky Pinball fulfilled our expectations. So, join Jonathan and Martin as they report on the launch of Stern’s own Shark Week, leading to the reveal of the company’s latest new cornerstone title, Jaws, inviting you to jump aboard the Orca to battle the infamous Great White. Of course, no ocean voyage would be complete without a leak or two. The reveal of Jaws followed hot on the heels of Spooky Pinball’s announcement of their next two titles. Yes, not just one but two new games, with The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Looney Tunes announced simultaneously. There’s also news of a new interactive topper for their Scooby-Doo Where Are You! game complete with its own video mode. There’s much more industry news to report as Pedretti Gaming jump aboard the remake train following a new deal with Planetary Pinball Supply to remake classic Williams/Bally titles in addition to their 2.0 upgrade kits for existing games. Meanwhile, Dutch Pinball are expanding into a second building. Find out what that means for current and future projects, including the potential end of The Big Lebowski manufacturing. There are also production updates from Multimorphic, Pinball Adventures, Hexa Pinball and others, with lots of new code updates from Stern and Pinball Brothers. Plus, there’s news of the return of a classic major tournament this summer, a new world record attempt, the opening of a new production of The Who’s Tommy, and plenty of pinball awards shenanigans. It’s all packed into first new PINcast of 2024.
November 2023 pinball recap: Stern's IC app, JJP Elton John success, AP production goals and rumors debunked.
It’s the final PINcast of 2023 and it’s a whopper, as Jonathan Joosten from Pinball Magazine and Martin Ayub from Pinball News are joined by David Fix, Executive Vice President of American Pinball. David discusses the state of the company as they move towards year end, the big push to get Galactic Tank Force Signature Editions in front of buyers in time for the holidays, the next four games they have in development, both licensed and original-themed, including one with a special place in the team’s hearts, a special company discount only available for the next ten days, while also addressing some of the more wild speculation on social media. While there weren’t any new physical games launched this month, there was a brand new title for Multimorphic’s P3 system, plus a huge number of software updates for existing games, adding new wizard modes, new challenges, new achievement badges to collect, lots of rule enhancements and many more improvements. It’s Back-to-the-Future as older titles get re-run, while it’s also ‘Topper Time’ with original manufacturer and third-party toppers launched for many different titles. With some games slated to have unique toppers from up to three different companies, it seems no pinball is complete without an interactive contraption sitting on the backbox. Martin and Jonathan were also at the Dutch Pinball Open Expo in Veldhoven near Eindhoven, reporting and hosting two editions of their So You Think You Know Pinball? prize quiz. Dutch Pinball also had a big presence there with The Big Lebowski, but were there also some clues about their upcoming second game announcement? There’s also all the latest news, production updates and announcements from every current or wannabe pinball manufacturer, including the possibility of a new title being announced within the next few weeks. It’s all packed into this month’s brand new, extended PINcast.
Pinball Expo 2023 recap: JJP Elton John, Barrels Labyrinth, Stern factory move and new Elvira variant.
What a month! There was a ton of news from the pinball world throughout October, so join Jonathan Joosten from Pinball Magazine and Martin Ayub from Pinball News as they bring you bang up-to-date with all the new games, companies, products, code, and much more. Of course, October’s pinball news was dominated by the events in and around Pinball Expo. An evening of food, drinks and gameplay followed by the first tour of Stern Pinball’s new factory kicked off the show in style. The huge show hall featured just about all the main players in the pinball business with their latest offerings, while upstairs guests could enjoy an exhausting forty-seven seminars and two movie screenings stretching over three days. There were several stars of the show, but only one true superstar – Elton John. Jersey Jack Pinball launched their spectacular ninth title at Pinball Expo, with three Elton John machines available to play, first at their seminar reveal and then on their stand. Talking of reveals, the ‘Mystery Pinball Company’ revealed themselves as Barrels of Fun, and they revealed their first game as Labyrinth, based on the David Bowie fantasy movie of the same name. Looking to all the world as though they’ve been building pinballs for years, this start-up put on a very professional launch for their new company and new game. There were also soft launches for the Ninja Eclipse game from Turner Pinball which featured a number of innovative (and sometimes controversial) design elements, and the game Elements from Pinball Adventures, with further development expected on both these titles before they go into production. Meanwhile, Pinball Brothers were showing their new Ellen Ripley version of Alien, a new animated topper for the game and new backglass artwork for their Queen game. American Pinball brought together the four main cast members from their Galactic Tank Force game, first for a seminar and then – in full costume – for an autograph session in the main hall.
Pinball Brothers announces Alien Ripley Edition with new artwork, sculpts, and software launching mid-November.
Jonathan Joosten from Pinball Magazine and Martin Ayub from Pinball News are joined in this special Bonus PINcast by Pinball Brothers’ CEO, Daniel Janson, and Head of Marketing & Communications, Rüdiger Beckmann, to talk about the company’s latest release, Alien Pinball: Ripley Version. Daniel and Rüdiger describe how the Ripley Version was developed, the new Alien movie assets added, the new playfield sculpts, the new translite, the new cabinet and interior artwork, the new topper, the new apron, who has been working on it, when it will go into production, when it will ship, and perhaps most importantly, when and where you’ll be able to play it. In addition, there is good news for existing Alien Pinball owners, plus good reason for excitement if you’re a lucky owner of Pinball Brothers’ second title, Queen. It’s all crammed into this special Bonus PINcast, so make sure you don’t miss out on the latest news by listening to this brand new edition of the podcast the pinball industry listens to.
September 2023 pinball recap: P3 games, mystery company teases reveal, Stern news and updates.
Jonathan Joosten from Pinball Magazine and Martin Ayub from Pinball News are back with their review of all the exciting events in the pinball industry during the month of September (plus a few bonus days from October). The versatility of Multimorphic’s P3 pinball platform is demonstrated as two new mini- or ‘add-on’ games are released for the Heist! and Drained playfields. Both Dungeon Door Defender and Drained: Bite-Sized provide a whole new, low-cost way to play their respective playfield modules. Starting a new pinball company and producing your first game without details leaking is a tough challenge, but one start-up seems to have achieved just that. All is about to be revealed though. Find out what’s known so far, and when we will get to see who they are and what they’ve been working on. Plus, with Pinball Expo coming up this month, show founder Rob Berk tells us what he and his team have planned for this year’s celebration of all things pinball and why you need to be there. He also talks about the founding of his Past Times arcade in Girard, Ohio, which features more than 300 pinballs and 150 arcade games ranging from the 1930s to the present day. In addition, there are all the regular updates from all the main players, including new appointments, production plans, sponsorship deals, new gameroom products, expected new game announcements, appearances at shows around the world, tons of new game code releases, along with the latest developments in the ongoing Deeproot saga. It’s all crammed into this month’s brand new PINcast, so make sure you haven’t missed out on what’s been happening in the pinball world by listening to the podcast the pinball industry listens to.
