In yet another assault on the pinball senses Stern Pinball has released a new video from several events related to the launch of the Metallica pinball machine. From launch partied hosted throughout the country to footage from the Comic Con convention hosted last week there are lots of enthusiastic people that had a chance to play and enjoy the game.
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Johnny Beaver carries a piece of paper with his pinball high scores written on it. He uses it as motivation to top his previous score. It’s also a way to relive his best moments.
Beaver, 32, is part of a quietly growing the pinball scene in Corvallis. Pinball lovers are slowly expanding the availability of pinball machines in town. And they want bargoers who are focused more on beer instead of the game to join their community. The Northwest far surpasses other regions in number of pinball locations, according to international machine tracker pinballmap.com. For example, Portland has 246 pinball locations, Seattle has 102 and Eugene is listed with 13, but insiders say there are far more. Corvallis has five. Beaver and Brian Morrissette, the 18-year-old godfather of pinball in Corvallis, struggled to name even that many. “(Pinball is) a growing renaissance in America, especially in the Northwest,” Morrissette said. Contributing to the movement are men in their 30s and 40s who want to relive the game they grew up playing. In the past two years, Morrissette said, the number of collectors in town has at least doubled. Jeff Obermann, 43, is one of them. He thought his grandparents having a pinball machine in their basement was the coolest thing in the world. He resolved that when he grew up, he would own pinball machines. Play every pinball game Corvallis has to offer with this interactive Corvallis map. See what each location has to offer by viewing Corvallis pinball map in a larger map. Now, at least 10 machines are practically stacked on top of each other in his kitchen. Ben Metzger, 31, is hoping to provide people of all ages the same thrill he gets when he plays pinball. His restaurant and arcade, The Dam, is scheduled to open sometime this fall and will showcase at least a dozen 1970s and 80s era pinball machines, some rare. Metzger is already building his collection with the help of Morrissette. Metzger keeps three in his future kitchen, where he plays his favorite machine -- Gottlieb’s 1981 Mars God of War -- because the dark basement workshop scares him. He knows The Dam will make more money from beer sales than 25 cent pinball games, but games like the vintage Panthera 2 are converting guys like Beaver into a zealous community of pinballers. -- Emiko Bledsoe, Parkrose High School sophomore See the video here An eight-and-a-half-minute video clip in which Stern Pinball, Inc., the world's leading maker of real pinball games and the American Amusement Machine Association (AAMA) Manufacturer Of The Year, takes you behind the scenes as its team works on the METALLICA pinball machine can be seen below.
Stern Pinball, Inc. earlier in the week announced its third annual Comic-Con International pinball tournament where players and fans will have the opportunity to play Stern's latest METALLICA Pro machine, celebrating one of the world's foremost heavy metal bands. San Diego Comic-Con attendees will be able to compete in a pinball tournament for the chance to win a cash prize and pinball backglass by signing up to play at booth #503. The tournament starts July 17 on Preview Night at Comic-Con. Qualifying participants will be selected to return if they advance in the tournament. The finals will be held on Saturday, July 20. Stern is excited to offer game enthusiasts,METALLICA devotees and comic fanatics a chance to experience first hand the highly sought-after METALLICA pinball game. "Since their launch in May, Stern's METALLICA machines quickly developed a massive following," said Jody Dankberg, director of marketing and licensing for Stern Pinball. "We are thrilled to 'officially' debut the Pro version at San Diego Comic-Con where our craftsmanship will be put to the test as players experience the unique features and addictive nature of METALLICA pinball." In addition to the annual tournament, Stern Pinball will sponsor a few attention-grabbing giveaways, including a Kirk Hammett guitar, and will also host an exclusive autograph session with famed pop culture artistDirty Donny Giles on Thursday, July 18 at 2 p.m. Attendees can find Stern Pinball at the Nuclear Blast America and JSR Merchandising booth #503. The METALLICA game continues both the Stern Pinball and the Sternfamily tradition of producing quality pinball machines for young and old. The company traces its lineage to Philadelphia in the 1930s when Sam Stern entered the business of operating pinball games. Sam Sternsubsequently became part owner and president of Williams Manufacturing, a pioneer in the pinball industry, and passed his lifelong enthusiasm for the game and the business of pinball to his son Gary Stern, who founded Stern Pinball. Today pinball remains one of America's favorite pastimes. The METALLICA pinball machine is available through authorized Sterndistributors and dealers. To learn more about the METALLICA pinball game and Stern Pinball, visit www.sternpinball.com via blabbermouth Jersey Jack Pinball CEO Explains How He's Making The Beloved Arcade Game Cool Again (VIDEO)6/27/2013 You don't typically think of pinball -- the pastime of famous 1970s characters like the Fonz and The Who's Tommy -- as a particularly cutting edge technology.
Yet that's just what Jack Guarnieri is setting out to do with his recently launched company, Jersey Jack Pinball. Guarnieri founded the company in 2011, after 35 years in the pinball industry as a mechanic. His machines offer a significant upgrade on what you'd expect from the beloved arcade machines, offering cinema quality animations and LED lights that can change into any color -- an industry first. Guarnieri says he wants to use new technology to make "the greatest pinball machine ever.” Now Guarnieri and Jersey Jack Pinball are celebrating the successful release of itsWizard of Oz pinball game, selling a first run of around 1,500 units for $7,000 each, according to CNNMoney. Jersey Jack Pinball's timing appears to be spot on as the game seems to be undergoing a "resurgence," as Guarnieri puts it. Competitor Stern Pinball -- the only other company still surviving in the business -- has seen sales triple since 2009, while the International Flipper Pinball Association saw membership grow 30 percent last year, according to CNNMoney. As the company prepares to release its second game in 2014, this time based on The Hobbit, it remains to be seen whether or not Jersey Jack Pinball will foster a full-fledged renaissance for the game that was once so loved. One thing’s for sure though, it’s a whole lot of fun -- and not just for the customer. “The best part of this job is being involved with something that I love, so it’s not work,” he said. Read the article, pics and video here http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/26/jersey-jack-pinball_n_3504566.html Despite bankruptcy of publisher Crave Entertainment, developer FarSight is still promising that new tables will eventually make their way to the XBLA game The Pinball Arcade. Regardless of those issues, FarSight has released a new trailer for an upcoming table called Bally's Champion Pub: Although other tables still have not been released yet, you can still see the videos of the Centaur and Pinbot and the White Water teaser trailer.
There's still no official word on when these will actually hit XBLA. Via http://www.trueachievements.com/n13755/new-pinball-arcade-dlc-table-unveiled.htm To purists, the mere concept of video pinball may be wrong. But darling, Zen Studios makes it feel so very right. Time after time, they release detailed, deep, bright and blingy tables, and Marvel Pinball [$0.99] features some of their best work.
Their version of video pinball has 3D graphics, characters, stories, dialogue, twists and/or turns, and the kind of bonkers mechanics that just aren't possible in real life. Sure, they're defying the laws of physics, but if you're going to imitate real pinball, why not do it with some pizzazz? (You can't see it, but I'm typing with jazz hands.) Before continuing, there's the IAP. Stay with me, it gets a bit obnoxious. So: Zen Studios has already released Zen Pinball [Free], which (in addition to one free machine), already features 14 out of 15 of the Marvel tables. Marvel Pinball only comes with one table, Marvel's The Avengers, and if you already own that table onZen Pinball, then the only reason to get Marvel Pinball is to buy the Spider-Manmachine, and it seems unfair to penalize diehards with a pointless admission fee. Every additional table is $1.99, the same price as if you'd purchased them on Zen Pinball. So the purpose of Marvel Pinball is dubious. That being said, you do getMarvel's The Avengers at half price, so that's something. Read more via toucharcade.com The first high Quality video of the new Metallica Limited Edition pinball machine in the wild has surfaced courtesy of Pinside member MnHotRod. The new video highlights features of the LE model including the moving cross, hammer of justice, coffin ball lock mechanism, controlled led lighting and more. The video is 10 minutes plus in length so be sure to make some time to watch it. Unfortunately the sound is rather lack-luster so we still do not get the full experience the the game but more footage is sure to start rolling in soon as customers start to take delivery of their games. Stern Pinball has uploaded a fresh video of in-house programmer and software development manager Lyman Sheets playing the new Metallica Premium which details some of the extra hardware in the higher tier games. The game is reported to be incomplete software-wise so it's best not to take everything you see here as fully baked gameplay. Either way it's a nice way to get to know the game played by one of the best pinball players in the world. If you love rock and metal and if the idea of playing a game of pinball gets you a bit misty-eyed for the past, you'll be glad to know that Sony Music's upcoming Pinball Rockscombines those into one rockin' game. The iOS app, developed by Game Prom, features tables inspired by rock legends and their music. Gamers can play on pinball tables inspired by Alice in Chains, Bullet for My Valentine, AC/DC and Slayer. Each table is crafted to pay homage to the respective band's music. SEE ALSO: The 15 Best Free iPad Games The game will also feature rotating songs from Sony Music's stable of rock artists. When the game launches June 13, fans can play along with tracks by Chevelle, The Sword, Filter, Red, All That Remains, Hatebreed and Nonpoint. Fans also can purchase songs from the app through iTunes. Pinball Rocks is meant to bring fans of rock music and gamers together and maybe introduce music fans to a new way to listen to songs, a Sony executive told Mashable. It will also bring exposure to a slew of rock artists as fans play along with their tracks. The Alice in Chains, Bullet for My Valentine, AC/DC and Slayer tables are all premium and will cost $2.99 each to download. Sony said these tables are packed with Easter eggs for fans of those bands and nods to the bands' history. Alice in Chains' table, for instance, has a bonus game that unlocks the band's new single "Hollow." The Slayer and AC/DC pinball games are already in the iTunes store, but Pinball Rocks brings all those games under one roof. Sony said there will be new premium tables for other rock artists in the future. You can watch the trailer for the Alice in Chains table below. Via http://mashable.com/2013/06/10/pinball-rocks-game-app/
TACOMA -- Andy Sampson is a die-hard arcader and at the 5th Annual Northwest Pinball Arcade show he's in good company.
Hundreds of gamers will flock to Tacoma this weekend to slay some dragons and rescue a princess. It's all part of the Northwest Pinball and Arcade Show - which happens to be the the largest arcade set up in the Northwest. This is a place that has self proclaimed pinball nerds flipping over those little plastic bats. A moment to live out their childhoods for a new generation. "I have a young son on the way so for me this is a chance to be able to enjoy what I had when I was little and be able to show my son in the future some of the fun things I grew up with," Sampson said. For most people here these 400 pinball and arcade games are a hobby. Most have collected these since video games sent the arcade industry into a tailspin in the 1990s. "It's kind of like our Disneyland. we get all the games out the public gets to come out and enjoy them," Halligan of the Northwest Pinball Arcade Show. In this magical kingdom, the pinball wizard reigns. "It gets your adrenaline going," said Yvonne Harvey Shea, who will be 75 years old next month. This is her first time enchanting others with her pinball prowess. She's only been playing three months. In that time she's gone from owning one machine to five. "If I would have started earlier I would probably have 100 like some of our friends have," she said. A lot of the machines' mechanics are 30 years old. They require a lot of upkeep. Whether or not the industry survives, Sampson said his son will play. "If I have to fly him to Japan I will, I don't care," Sampson said. "I will find a way to have him play these games." The pinball and arcade show continues thorough Sunday. It costs just $20 for unlimited play. Check out the video in the link http://www.komonews.com/news/local/Old-school-gamers-enjoy-Pinball-and-Arcade-Show-in-Tacoma-210726421.html |
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