Thonline has posted a story about Charlie Emery and Spooky Pinball that is a must read for pinball fans.

BY CRAIG D. REBER TH STAFF WRITER [email protected]

BENTON, Wis. -- Few adults play games at work. Not only does Charlie Emery, 45, of Benton, play them, he builds them.

The owner of Spooky Pinball, Emery crafts the games in a busy, bright and colorful workshop -- sort of like a young Santa Claus.

"There's no logical reason these should exist," he said. "People spend thousands of dollars to smack a steel ball around. I come here, build games, go home and play them (more than 20). My wife always knows where I'm at."

In February, Emery left a good position at Signcraft Screenprint, in Galena, Ill., after 21 years and "after much thought and debate," to pursue his dream full time.

Through contacts and friends at Signcraft, Emery built a new, custom game from parts of an old game.

"We basically gutted a game like a fish, stripped it down to nothing, into a custom game, just for fun," he said.

Emery and his son, then 9 years old, took the game to the 2010 Midwest Gaming Classic in Chicago.

Industry people started coming by, looking at it and asking Emery about it.

"'Why did our game look so good?' 'How did we do this?' 'How does your home-brewed look as good, if not better, as our production game?'" he said.

That's what spurred Emery on his new journey. It's a collaborative effort. Emery credits Andrew Edgerton, of Benton, who serves as a game programmer; Ben Heck, of Madison, a game designer; and Dennis Nordman, of Lake Villa, Ill., who serves as a consultant.

"Andrew is an invaluable resource and incredibly talented," he said. "We don't exist without him."

Heck designed America's Most Haunted, the company's first production game. Pinball Zombies From Beyond the Grave is due for release in April.

Emery calls pinball machines "giant Rubik's cubes of wire with infinite possibilities and only one correct way to get it."

He said it takes a special skill set to physically manufacture the game.

Emery has energy-drink confidence in Spooky Pinball, in existence for less than a year.

"The sky is absolutely the limit," he sad. "We can survive on low numbers of games, where big companies can't, because we're so self-contained. We do everything here. We do all of our own printing, our own play fields, cabinets, circuit boards."



Read more via thonline

Many pinheads, for many years have been asking for a Big Lebowski themed pinball machine and the team at Dutch Pinball have revealed their plans to do just that. After a long 69 day tease DP just revealed a few details and ordering information for the new game coming in 2015.

In cooperation with Universal and officially licensed TBL pinball will feature assets from the cult classic film.

Read the official Press Release and watch the video after the break

For more than a decade, Stern Pinball was the only manufacturer of pinball machines. The Chicago-based company's last rival closed down in 1999.

But Stern's pinball monopoly may be drawing to an end. In 2011, the startup manufacturerJersey Jack Pinball opened for business, and it's working hard to grab a slice of the industry.

"You know, it would be a boring world, I guess, if there was only one company making shoes or handbags or anything," says Jack Guarnieri, the New Jersey company's owner. "So, I think more competition and more product in the marketplace raises the awareness of pinball."

Jersey Jack Pinball's debut game is based on The Wizard of Oz film. They plan to release a second game, The Hobbit, in the spring of 2014.

Breaking Stern's monopoly and squeezing into this industry will be a challenge, mainly because demand just isn't what it used to be. Between 1955 and 1970, the games made more money than the entire American movie industry. Thirty years ago, there were nearly a dozen pinball manufacturers in the U.S.

Now, it's a very different story.

"Back in the day, they used to sell 5- to 10,000 of each pinball machine — now they're lucky if they hit 1,000 to 1,500," says Tim Arnold, owner of the Pinball Hall of Fame in Las Vegas. "So it's exactly like the movies — if you get a hit movie, everything is great. But if you have one or two dud movies in a row, you're in deep trouble financially."

Arnold says Jersey Jack needs to do two basic things to succeed: create an incredible product and bring it to the masses.

Jersey Jack seems to be on track with that first goal. Arnold compares The Wizard of Oz game to going from black-and-white to color television.

The game has a multicolor LED screen that plays animation and clips from the movie. Special flipper settings and lights transform the board according to each mode of play.

"If you're going for the Emerald City, all the lights turn green," says Arnold. "If you're battling flying monkeys, it all turns red. It's really a spectacular visual presentation."

There's only one problem: The Wizard of Oz is hard to find. Even two years after its initial release, the game is unlikely to be in your local arcade. Many of the units have gone to homes of private collectors.

Molly Atkinson, one of the few who has played it, had to go to a collector's home to do so. She's a collector herself and runs a public-access arcade called Pins and Needles in Los Angeles.

"It's a real fancy game, Wizard of Oz," she says. "It has a lot of neat features on it. And for some reason, it's really grown on me."

Atkinson doubts it will join her collection any time soon. The machine costs about $8,000. "No new games are affordable! When it was a public play thing, games never cost this much," Atkinson says.

She only charges 25 cents per play at her arcade, but even if she charged double, it would take 16,000 games for her to recoup that cost.

Atkinson had hoped that if the pinball monopoly was broken, the machines would become more affordable.

"We finally do have someone else who's entered the market," says Atkinson. "But their games are maybe even more expensive. So it's just very unattainable for someone like me to get one."

Still, Atkinson says the arrival of a new game-maker is a good thing. She hopes that competition between the two companies will breathe fresh life into the industry.

Jersey Jack owner Guarnieri, a veteran arcade executive, says that's the whole point. "That's really what you want to hear," he says. "That's success."

With Jersey Jack's second game due out in the spring, Guarnieri says a third machine, with an all-original design and story, is already in production.

Stern Pinball did not respond to press inquiries for this story. A banner on the company's website declares it it is "the only maker of REAL pinball games on the planet!!"

Guarnieri says they probably just haven't updated the site yet.

via http://www.npr.org/2013/12/22/256328172/in-the-world-of-pinball-an-underdog-takes-on-the-giant

It's been awhile since we've had any car news though not for the lack thereof. Seeing as we have laxed in that area there seems no better reason than to release this bit of news to take up any remaining slack. 

Introducing the Lamborghini LP610-4 Huracan. In what look to be and angry fight between aggression and passion, the designers at Lamborghini have come out with a new twist on the baby Aventador adding a bit of Ferrari flair to the quarters of this car which make this design stand out among recent designs. Perhaps a bit of Mura in the car?

Powered by an all new 5.2 V10 it produces 610 bhp at 8250rpm, 0-60 is 3.2 seconds and top speed is over 200 mph!! The power of the V10 engine is brought to the road via the new 7-speed dual-clutch transmission “Lamborghini Doppia Frizione” (LDF) and fully electronically controlled four-wheel drive system. The different driving modes of the Huracán can be selected via a driving dynamics selector switch in the steering wheel – from traction-oriented on the road to extreme performance on the race track, with three setups of the dynamics system: STRADA, SPORT and CORSA. The different modes ensure extensive modification in road behavior of the Huracán. In particular they influence the set-ups of several systems, such as the gearbox and engine behavior, the sound, the four-wheel-drive system and electronic stability control. The Huracán’s carbon-ceramic brakes are a standard feature for consistently superb braking performance.

Delivery to the first customers is planned for spring 2014. From next month, it be the protagonist of over 130 private preview events in more than 60 cities throughout the world. 

What do you think? Do you like it? Leave your comments below.

In a very generous and very special act of kindness, Pinball STAR Amusements was able to donate a brand new Wizard of Oz pinball machine to St. Christopher's Hospital for Children in Philadelphia, Pa this week to the delight and surprise of many.

Joe Newhart and the staff at Pinball STAR  Amusements donated a portion of each machine sold towards the purchase of the machine as well as fundraising efforts from many members of the pinball community. 

The staff and children at the hospital were very excited to accept the generous gift and took right to enjoying the game. We applaud this special act of kindness which will no doubt bring years if not decades of pleasure to those in the facility.

Read the story from Joe Newhart here

Guitarist Brian Setzer and his wife, Julie Reiten, felt right at home in their aptly named Rock Island Lofts. Setzer would have friends over and “rock the heck” out of the top-floor unit. He even posed with his signature Gretsch guitar in front of the downtown Minneapolis skyline on his rooftop patio for the cover of his 2009 album, “Songs From Lonely Avenue.”

“We leave the curtains open in the living room,” he said during a phone interview while on tour with the Brian Setzer Orchestra’s Christmas show, which included a gig last month at the Orpheum Theatre. “It’s the prettiest nightlight you could have.”

But after eight years there, Setzer and Reiten are selling their condo in the North Loop neighborhood, which is within walking distance of restaurants, nightlife haunts and Target Field. They’re moving to a western suburb where Reiten will have a yard for gardening and space for an art studio — and Setzer will have a three-car garage. “My hobby is working on hot rods and motorcycles,” he said.

Read more here

IGN has an article about the new Zen Pinball 2 for the PS4 along with some new footage of the new release games.

Read the article here

MELROSE PARK, IL -- Stern Pinball Inc. recently conducted its fourth annual factory tour for second-grade students of the Academy of Global Citizenship (Chicago), a charter school located on the city's underserved southwestern side. This year, 50 students visited the Stern plant to get a close and detailed look at the way in which complex electromechanical equipment is designed and manufactured.

This AGC class learns how to design simple machines as part of its coursework, and visits the Stern factory every fall. Instruction this year included the preparation of technical drawings and their use in fabricating and assembling the components of a pinball machine. They also had ample time to experience the results of these activities by playing the many games on display in the pinball plant's arcade.

Headquartered just outside Chicago, Stern Pinball is the world's leading manufacturer of flipper games. Its talented creative and technical teams design, engineer and manufacture arcade-quality amusement apparatus including such popular titles as Avengers, X-Men, AC/DC, Tron, Transformers, Avatar, Iron Man, Batman and Spiderman. Stern equipment is enjoyed by pinball enthusiasts and casual players around the world.

- See more at vendingtimes.com here

Stern Pinball today announced the production of a new pinball machine in currently in development. 50 years of Mustang licensed from Ford Motor Co. will highlight the grand history of the muscle car that started it all.  

Stern Pinball Press Release and 2015 Mustang media after the break

The Verge has a beautiful Photo Essay about Modern Pinball in NYC and the resurgence of the game including interviews with Co-Owners Steve Epstein and  Steve Zahler.

Go check it out! http://www.theverge.com/2013/12/3/5171092/shoot-again-pinball-bounces-back-in-new-york-city