Vendingtimes has posted an article about JJP shipping games to customers as well as some insight into the companies production facility and game features.

LAKEWOOD, NJ -- Jersey Jack Pinball Inc. has begun shipping the production version of its first game, The Wizard of Oz. Pinball machines are on their way from the company's 42,000-sq.ft. building in Lakewood, NJ, to the more than 1,400 customers worldwide who preordered the JJP original. A few games left the factory in early March.

Coin-op veteran Jack Guarnieri announced the formation of JJP on Jan. 1, 2011, to design and build commercial pinball machines. Jersey Jack Pinball licensed the iconic film, "The Wizard of Oz," from Warner Bros. Consumer Products to theme its first game. Guarnieri starting repairing electromechanical pinball machines in 1975.

JJP is building 1,000 WoZ Emerald City Limited Edition models, which have been sold out since 2011. Its next step will be to produce the standard version of Wizard of Oz, which the company expects to be a worldwide hit. It has spent $2 million to make it.

The Wizard of Oz machine is said to incorporate some "industry firsts" designed to bring pinball into the 21st century. These include a 26" high-definition LCD screen for custom animation, movie clips, scoring and much of the backglass artwork. The playfield is illuminated by LEDs, while the soundtrack and effects are generated by a seven-speaker digital audio system. The solid-wood cabinet and the playfield feature full-color digital imprinting, the playfield is protected by a premium Clearcoat overlay.

Guarnieri reports that the machine's aesthetics were thought out carefully, inch by inch, to ensure that all aspects of The Wizard of Oz are illustrated. The game includes a magnetized flying monkey that scoops up the ball, Dorothy's house which spins and drops on the feet of the Wicked Witch of the East, a crystal ball that displays animations on a small backlit LCD monitor, ruby red "slipper flippers," and many other visual references to the movie.

With Wizard of Oz now rolling off the assembly line, the company has begun work on its second game. This will be based on the movie version of J.R.R. Tolkien's children's book, The Hobbit. The first of the three movies in this trilogy premiered in December 2012, with the two remaining films set for release in December 2013 and December 2014.

The Hobbit pinball is currently in the design phase, and will be released late 2014. The company says it already has pre-sold more than 1,000 units.

Guarnieri has proven that a pinball startup, while not easy, is possible -- if it has a loyal and tolerant clientele. The former distributor for Stern Pinball Inc., which until now was considered the only manufacturer of authentic pinball machines for more than a decade, could now be considered a Stern competitor. If and when its second title rolls off the Lakewood factory line, Jersey Jack Pinball could become more than a one-pin wonder.

As for the first game, Guarnieri exclaims, "My Oz is finally seeing these incredible games make their way out of our factory and into the homes and arcades of our unbelievably loyal and patient customers. We hope this game will bring smiles to their faces for many years to come."


via Vendingtimes

By Alex Hudson

Canadian music fans hoping to hear some of their favourite artists in an intimate studio setting will soon get a treat with the launch of Pinball Sessions. This web series (and its accompanying website) will premiere on Friday (May 31) and feature a steady stream of artists performing live in the studio.

First up are the Magic, whose session will hit the web tomorrow at 6 p.m. EDT. Among the other artists who have already completed three-to-four-song sessions are John K. Samson, Julie Doiron, Daniel Romano, Shotgun Jimmie, By Divine Right, the Highest Order, Legato Vipers and Gangstagrass.

Watch a trailer for the sessions below, plus check out a streaming player with songs from upcoming sessions by the Magic, Baskery and Smokekiller.

A press release explains that the series aims to capture artists in a low-pressure environment where they have an opportunity to record songs and try new things. Pinball Sessions are so named because the studio houses a pinball club, and the artists can relax by playing a few rounds.

The project was founded by Daniel Cooper, Dan Beeson and Shawna Cooper, and it will host 104 sessions over the next year. Over the weekend, Pinball Sessions will host launch parties in Guelph, Winnipeg, Calgary, Halifax and Toronto. See the details down below.

Launch parties:

5/31 Guelph, ON - Van Gogh's Ear (Flash Lightnin', Gregory Pepper, Scott Haynes)
5/31 Winnipeg, MB - The Folk Exchange (JD Edwards Band, The F-Holes, TJ Blair)
6/1 Calgary, AB - Palomino (Smokekiller, Castle River, Jeff Stuart & the Hearts)
6/1 Halifax, NS - Gus' Pub (Bad Vibrations, Graboids, Tv Freaks, Sleight, Odd Socks)
6/1 Toronto, ON - 3030 (Zebrassieres, Ketamines, Start Something, DJ Sarah Ford)

Check out the video here exclaim.ca

Headquarters is only seven months old, but already the Lake View beercade has outgrown its four walls, expanding into the adjacent 7,000 square-foot former Uncle Fatty’s space and adding around 20 shiny pinball machines (making it the Midwest’s largest pinball mecca).

A Friday night visit—one day after the expansion was revealed—saw a pack of youngish gamers tinkering intently on the (free!) new games, tipping back microbrews between rounds, and ordering drinks off menus designed to look like comic books. Behind the bar, mixologists crafted whimsical potions, such as the Cereal Killer with house-infused Cinnamon Toast Crunch whiskey, from the new cocktail list. 

It's a good place to enjoy the things you did as a kid, with a few adult beverages to go along with it.

See more pics via chicagomag.com

Stern pinball has issued a press release in regards to speculative practices that some unauthorized dealers have been practicing.

Ultimately these "unauthorized dealers" are not under the contractual obligations that Authorized dealers are and therefore not in direct violation of any practice. This becomes a "buyer beware" situation and pinpoints the value provided by authorized distributors. 

By stating this position Stern Pinball hopes to steer clear of misunderstanding and perceived liability that may come before new games are released and officially available for sale. 

Read the official press release below.

MELROSE PARK, Ill., May 28, 2013 --/PRNewswire/ -- Stern Pinball, Inc., the world's leading maker of real pinball games and theAmerican Amusement Machine Association ("AAMA") Manufacturer of the Year, announced today a clarification of its position on game deposits.

Stern Pinball does not support the practice followed by some unauthorized distributors and dealers of taking deposits on games Stern Pinball has not publicly announced.  Potential customers may erroneously assume Stern Pinball will produce a particular title; presumed titles may never be built. 

Stern Pinball only accepts deposits on games Stern Pinball has publicly announced that are soon to be produced, and which are associated with confirmed orders from Stern Pinball direct distributors and dealers.

"It has come to our attention that some of our best customers may have made deposits with middlemen for games that our company has not announced and that we may never produce," said Gary Stern, Chairman and CEO of Stern Pinball, Inc.  "We think it's important to inform our customers that Stern Pinball does not support this speculative practice." 

"We only accept deposits from our authorized distributors and dealers for confirmed orders on games we have publicly announced that are ready for production," added Stern.  "We have never and will not accept deposits for games we have not announced."

About Stern Pinball, Inc.

Stern Pinball, Inc., headquartered just outside Chicago, Illinois, is the leading producer of pinball games in the world. Stern's highly talented creative and technical teams design, engineer and manufacture popular arcade-quality pinball games. Recent popular titles include Metallica, Avengers, X-Men, AC/DC, Tron, Transformers, Avatar, Iron Man, Batman, Spiderman and many more. All of Stern Pinball's games are crafted by hand and assembled by its expert team. Both pinball enthusiasts and casual players around the globe enjoy Stern Pinball's games. For more information, please visit www.sternpinball.com.

All trademarks and product names are the property of Stern Pinball, Inc.

Media Contact: Evie Carter FortyThree, Inc. 831.401.3175 [email protected]

SOURCE Stern Pinball, Inc.

Our friend Jeremy Wilson shows off his latest pinball product 'Airfield' to the folks at Technabob.com and demonstrates how the system is used to create beautiful pinball art come to life. Check out the video and this cool new product that will have you wanting to light up all of your playfield wall art.

Thanks to videogames, pinball has been relegated to a niche. But it still has its fans, some so addicted to the machines that they hang entire pinball playfields on their walls as decoration. Jeremy Williams and his friend invented Airfield, an LED kit that makes mounted or hung playfields come alive.


Read more and check out the video interview via technabob.com

This week on the Post Arcade podcast, we’re joined by Tony Walsh of the developer Phantom Compass. Much like David S. Gallant a couple of weeks ago, Phantom Compass is trying to get a game “Green Lit” on Steam.

In this case, it’s the pinball/RPG cross-over Rollers of The Realm.

Rollers is a passion project for the team, but isn’t the only thing Phantom Compass is working on. Listen in to find out more about the Canadian developer.

Read more and listen via http://business.financialpost.com/2013/05/28/post-arcade-podcast-14-tony-walsh-dishes-about-pinball-rpg-rollers-of-the-realm/

I really dig pinball. It's an itch that I don't often get to scratch, and I figure that's largely due to the lack of proper arcades in 2013. As a kid that grew up in the 1980s, I threw down more than my fair share of quarters in the dimly-lit confines of ALADDIN'S CASTLE. In fact, as an adult, I've always wanted to own a really killer pinball machine (not sure where I'd put one), but maybe I'm overdue. When I woke up this morning, I had no idea that my love of pinball would be refueled - and I certainly had no intention of blogging about it. What happened this afternoon is that I accidentally came across the just-released METALLICA Pro Pinball Machine that Stern Pinball put out, and there was no way I could pass up the chance to sacrifice a few bucks to the pinball Gods. Give me Fuel... Give me Fire... Give me that which I desire...

Read more via therockfather.com

Sean Casey may be a magician when it comes to his skill at repairing and refurbishing pinball machines, but he cringes at the term pinball wizard.

"Nooo, don't do that to me," says the Willow Glen resident.

If you need a title, Casey prefers Amused the Easiest at Easily Amused Pinball LLC.

"I'm the CEO and all of it, and I do the bathrooms," he says with a laugh.

Like any good devotee, Casey remembers when he first discovered the lure of the silver ball around age 11 or 12 at a local billiard arcade in the Monta Vista area of Cupertino.

Casey found pinball preferable to video games because, he says, "with a pinball machine it's a bit more unpredictable and random."

Pinball remained a pastime for Casey until around the age of 16, when his interests went in different directions.

"I picked it back up when I went to college," he says of his stint at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

"You study all day and you need some relief, so we went to an arcade to play. I would take breaks with my girlfriend--she's now my wife--and we'd go play for a couple of hours and get back to studying."

After graduation in 1987, pinball again took a back seat, this time to Casey's career as an organizational development consultant in finance and operations, his family and settling in Willow Glen.

A decade later, in 1998, Casey bought a Dodge Viper and with it his first pinball machine: Viper--Night Drivin'.

"I had the Viper on order, and Dodge had a marketing agreement with Sega, and they sent an advertisement," Casey recalls.

"The pinball machine showed up 30 days before I took delivery on the car."

Casey still has both the car and the pinball machine.

"I was hooked," he recalls.

"I got one machine and then I wanted another one, and I got two and I wanted another one."

Theresa Casey understands her husband's passion, he says, as do their children, Stephania, 20, and Ryan 16.

All three play, but Casey says they don't necessarily enjoy playing with him.

That's because when he's playing, his "ball times" can get extensive and it's boring waiting for a turn.

Casey has 10 pinball machines in his personal collection and more he's restoring or customizing for customers. Currently his favorite is AC/DC Back in Black "because it's the newest in my collection."

He estimates he spends about 20 hours a week on his hobby.

"It's rewarding to get something that needs work," he says of the pinball machines he restores.

"You're bringing it back to life. A lot of time a pinball machine is worth more as parts only. There are only a couple of pinball supply manufacturers, so it's pretty fixed. Every machine you take apart and sell as parts is one less machine to play in the future."

He adds, "I got into this to save pinball machines, not destroy them."

To that end, Casey is a big supporter of the Pacific Pinball Museum in Alameda.

"If somebody has an older machine they want to get out of their garage, I'll pick it up and take it to the museum and get that donation certificate back to them," he says.

"It gets rid of the machine, gives the museum a machine or parts and gets the individual a tax write-off."

Casey prefers working on pinball machines manufactured after 1977.

"The machines went from an electro-mechanical device to a solid state device with a computer, printed circuit boards and transistors controlling lights and sounds," he explains.

"I prefer working on solid state machines. With electro-mechanical, unless it's played frequently, the dirt and dust can gum up the inner workings and it takes a long time to clean up."

Casey's customers include people looking for machines to operate commercially in a bar, restaurant or other facility; collectors adding to their cache; and companies, usually in high tech, looking for machines to put in their break rooms.

"The biggest segment is families--moms and dads who want to make their house a destination for their kids and their kids' friends. They're trying to get them off television and video games," he says.



For information on Sean Casey's Easily Amused Pinball company, visit eapinball.com or call 408.888.0805. For information on the Pacific Pinball Museum, visit pacificpinball.org.

http://www.mercurynews.com/san-jose-neighborhoods/ci_23312633/san-jose-resident-sean-casey-rescues-collects-and

Starting Tuesday, May 28, City Hall will be the site of the Pacific Pinball Museum’s (PPM) latest educational exhibit. Five pinball machines will be on display through July 1, and available to play for free between 12:00 – 1:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday.

The five machines come from the electromechanical era of the 1970s. During this time, known as the third golden age, the pinball industry made more money than the motion picture industry. The games on exhibit are:

Bally Fireball (1971), a machine famed for its diverse selection of features;
Williams Gulfstream (1973), noted for its eminently playable tic-tac-toe theme;
Gottlieb Pro Football (1973), produced while D. Gottlieb & Company stood atop the pinball industry, this is a machine with an unusual playfield layout;
Bally Captain Fantastic (1975), a machine with remarkable back glass art featuring Elton John as the Captain;
Visible Pinball Machine (1976), a modified 1976 Gottlieb Surf Champ, and one of PPM’s most prized machines.

To kick off the exhibit, PPM’s mobile museum, Lil’ Ju Ju, a trailer with five additional electromechanical machines, will be open to the public from 11:30-1:30 on Tuesday, May 28 in front of City Hall.

The Pacific Pinball Museum, located at 1510 Webster Street in the City of Alameda, was founded in 2004 by Executive Director, Michael Schiess. With a collection of over 800 machines, the PPM is a bay area attraction dedicated to preserving and promoting one of America’s pastimes. For the price of admission, museum patrons can play over 85 machines on exhibit.

For more information contact the PPM at (510) 769-1349, or via email at[email protected] or visit www.pacificpinball.org.


LocationCity Hall2263 Santa Clara Avenue
Alameda, CA 94501
See map: Google Maps
Tuesday, May 28, 2013 - 9:00am to Monday, July 1, 2013 - 5:00pm

http://www.thealamedan.org/event/1795

The man plays a mean pinball.

Native New Yorker Steve Zahler is a pinball wizard — beating players with years of experience to become the metropolitan area’s first-place flipper.

Now he’s facing the ultimate test as he prepares for the game’s world championships in Germany beginning Friday, where 64 hot shots will vie for the coin-operated crown.

“I’m not there to beat anyone down. This is between me and the machine,” said Zahler, 44, a father of two from Elberon, NJ, who owns a Web-development firm.

Contenders from 19 countries will score from dusk until dawn next weekend — all for a chance at the title, $1,000 cash and a brand-new, $9,000 pinball machine.

The tournament, run by the International Flipper Pinball Association, features more than 100 machines including the brand-new Metallica game and Lord of the Rings.

But Zahler says he won’t be there to win. He just wants to keep the silver sphere rolling.

“It’s amazing to see that whatever I’m doing is working,” said Zahler, whose longest single game was 90 minutes. “We’re all looking for that super long zen-like game of pinball,” he added. “Sometimes you can have two horrible balls go down the drain. That third ball can be magic.”

Read more via nypost.com