The Great British Pinball Podcast Episode 17
Send us Fan Mail Neil and Scott talk all things UK OPEN, Labyrinth and Pinball Expo 2024 covering all the new games and updates for the show - Neil shares his disappointment with ABBA and his amazement of Metallica.
Kineticist’s take
UK pinball hosts discuss major events, factory tours, and shipping delays tied to parts suppliers.
Synopsis
Scott Rundell and Neil McCray discuss a month of major UK pinball events including UK Open (160 players), Scott's Labyrinth launch party, and Pinball Expo 40th edition in Chicago. They cover factory tours at CGC and Stern, delays with Cactus Canyon and Pulp Fiction LE (parts supplier issues), early gameplay of new Cactus Canyon code, and critical analysis of Jersey Jack Pinball complex code design on Avatar and Elton John. Notable tension emerges around LE vs SE release sequencing and manufacturing quality control.
Highlights
- UK Open had 160 players over three days with more games than ever before
- Cactus Canyon delays caused by supplier delivering wrong LE apron design, requiring new supplier search
- Pulp Fiction LE delay caused by topper part issues requiring replacement
- CGC warehouse has approximately 500 games ready to ship pending final parts
- Avatar is too easy with one-hour game lengths possible; code is complex and unfun
- JJP needs feedback from operators about game difficulty; their games don't appeal to location operators
- Labyrinth has geometry issues but strong video interactions; first game sets high bar for Barrels of Fun
- New Cactus Canyon code is impressive; players won't revert to original code once played
- CGC uses silkscreen printing for playfields (learned from Williams era); offers superior durability and color depth vs digital printing
Entities
- CGC (Chicago Gaming Company)· company
- Stern Pinball· company
- Pinball Expo· event
- Pinfest· event
- UK Open· event
- Avatar· game
- Cactus Canyon· game
- Elton John· game
- Labyrinth· game
- Metallica· game
- Pulp Fiction· game
- X-Men· game
- Backhand Pinball· organization
- David (Rego Arcade)· person
- Doug Duva· person
- Eric (Barrels/Labyrinth designer)· person
- Gary Flower· person
- James (technician)· person
- Josh Sharp· person
- Martin (Pinball News)· person
- Neil McCray· person
- Rob Burke· person
- Scott Rundell· person
- ZMAC (Zach McCurry)· person
- Beercade Sydney· venue