Game Plan: Smoke 'Em If You Got 'Em
The pinball industry does a lot to try to innovate and stimulate sales. Things like a mechanical bell, solid state boards, the wide body pinball machines, DMD screens and even stereo sound! But one of the strangest pinball machines out there was the Cocktail, a small almost round coffee table size working commercial pinball machine. Join us this month as we chat about bad marketing ideas, Roger Sharpe's advice, John Trudeau's start in pinball, and the rise and fall... and rise and fall of Game Plan! Game Plan Pinball Fan Site. Here Game Plan Wikipedia. Here Topcast Podcast - Ep 10 – John Trudeau - Ep 17 – Roger Sharpe - Ep 37 – Joe Kaminkow Pinball News. John Trudeau Charges. Here
Kineticist’s take
Silverball Chronicles explores Game Plan's 1970s cocktail pinball machines and their failed alcohol/cigarette licensing deals.
Synopsis
Episode 50 of Silverball Chronicles discusses cocktail pinball machines, small tabletop-sized pinball games produced by Game Plan in the late 1970s. The hosts trace the concept's origins, focusing on a series of licensed theme iterations (Black Velvet, Camel Lights, Foxy Lady, Real, Chuckaluck) that used alcohol and cigarette branding: all of which faced licensing withdrawals. Roger Sharpe intervention helped redirect the concept away from problematic sponsorships, highlighting both the innovation of compact pinball and the industry's struggle with licensing decisions.
Entities
- Flip N Out Pinball· company
- Game Plan· company
- INDISC· event
- Black Velvet· game
- Camel Lights· game
- Chuckaluck· game
- Foxy Lady· game
- Night Moves· game
- Pokémon· game
- Real· game
- Patreon· organization
- Silverball Chronicles· organization
- Andreas Bernard· person
- David Dennis· person
- Ed Sabula· person
- Jim Sullivan· person
- Kenny Anderson· person
- Lee Goldvoss· person
- Roger Sharpe· person
- Ron F. Winter Hallett· person
- Wendell Adams· person