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  • THIS WEEK IN PINBALL – 8/23/21: SEC Charges Deeproot, Ritchie to JJP, Halloween/Ultraman Stream, ESPN, JJP Talks Playfields, CGC Confirms CCR, and many Interviews

THIS WEEK IN PINBALL – 8/23/21: SEC Charges Deeproot, Ritchie to JJP, Halloween/Ultraman Stream, ESPN, JJP Talks Playfields, CGC Confirms CCR, and many Interviews

Keep an eye out for an exciting pinball announcement coming in just a couple hours!!

The Scoop

SEC Charges Robert Mueller and deeproot with Defrauding Investors Out Of $58M

Over the weekend news broke that the Securities and Exchange Commission is charging Robert Mueller and entities under the deeproot umbrella (including deeproot Pinball), in a $58M investment scam.

This is a developing story and we’ll continue to learn and share more as new information is made available.

Steve Ritchie Joins Jersey Jack Pinball

Legendary pinball designer Steve Ritchie has joined Jersey Jack Pinball:

Steve was also interviewed on the Jersey Jack Pinball Podcast – here is just one highlight:

On why he left Stern Pinball:

Steve Ritchie: “In the month of March, this year, I was very…lets just say sad about the working situation I was in there.  I didn’t really want to go, I have so many friends over there, just great people.  But I had to go because I wasn’t happy, I need to be happy, I need to like what I’m doing.  I spoke to Jack, he wrote me a note saying “how you doing”…and I said I’m doing ok, and he said “you want a job?” and I said yes [laughs] and we started talking…”

He also discussed the following:

  • he has two games completed at Stern (whitewood phase)

  • giving his resignation at Stern Pinball

  • looking forward to making some cool sh*t with JJP

  • walking into JJP for the first time

  • some titles/themes have been presented to him

  • that he loves “action” games

  • that his next game will have drop targets on it

  • that his turn around time on designing a machine is about 15 months

Dead Flip: Halloween and Ultraman Reveal Streams

Recently Jack Danger of Dead Flip streamed both Halloween and Ultraman from Spooky Pinball – check out the video below!

Chicago Gaming Company Confirms Cactus Canyon is Next Title

Chicago Gaming Company gave a presentation at the Southern Fried Gaming Expo, and Pinball News was in attendance to record the seminar – you can check out the full presentation here!

Among other things, CGC shared:

  • Cactus Canyon Remake will be their next game

  • CCr has new, finished code in it

  • on the CCr topper: “this will be the first topper ever created that has its own mini game in it”

  • formal reveal expected in the next 4-6 weeks

  • toys have been upgraded

  • art has been “cleaned up” by many different pinball artists

  • they have over 850 playfields ready to go for CCr

  • the line is working, they are building games

  • challenges with COVID, delays with licensor approval

  • they are working on five different pinball machines right now

  • they are doing another run of Medieval Madness Remake in early 2023

ESPN: Stern Heads-Up Pinball Invitational

Competitive pinball made it on ESPN The Ocho – check it out!!

The Pinball Network: Interview with Keith Elwin

The Final Round Pinball Podcast interviewed Keith Elwin recently! Here are just a few highlights:

On his design philosophy:

Elwin: One of the key things, I see this all the time, “I love games with flow and smooth shots”.  The irony is that is the easiest design in the world, that is a seven shot fan layout.  But me personally that I’m kind of sick of that design.  So I try to do things a little differently, and I think mostly it has worked, there have been a couple of shots I’d redo if I had to do it over…it is the hardest thing – the easiest thing to do is smooth shooting, flowing, fast, those are easy.  It is doing something original, unique, while incorporating some never before seen mechs, that is where my job comes in.  Otherwise you can just copy and paste any previous layout.  And people will buy it, because that is how they love the games to shoot.  But me personally, I’m looking to do something a little different.

On how designers can get a limited edition model of their game:

Elwin: For a Limited Edition, I have to buy that from a distributor…no game designer can buy their own LE unless they go through a distributor…we’re mere peasants [laughs]

On his next design:

Elwin: It is very intuitive.  It is probably on the level of [Iron] Maiden, it is kind of a similar rule structure as Maiden.  It should be pretty straightforward – once you see the playfield, you’re like “oh, that seems pretty obvious”.

They also discuss:

  • Steve Ritchie leaving Stern

  • the different layouts Elwin has designed

  • that Jurassic Park is his favorite layout he’s done

  • that he doesn’t like back-handable shots

  • his design process

  • that it takes him longer to design the rules than the layout

  • monitoring the production of the games

  • supply chain issues

  • that he is losing his desire to play competitive pinball (and focusing on designing)

  • the rules of Avengers and Jurassic Park

Pinball News & Pinball Magazine Podcast: Interview with Jack Guarnieri

Jack Guarnieri of Jersey Jack Pinball recently joined the Pinball News & Pinball Magazine Podcast and discussed, among other things, the playfield issues that have been seen on some of their games:

Jack Guarnieri: Well, things happen in pinball…we [Jersey Jack Pinball] have a reputation for many years of taking care of the customer. I’m pretty sure the few people that have problems – we’ve made offers to sell playfields at a special price. So if somebody feels the need, that they want an extra playfield, at the end of the run of Guns N Roses they can buy a playfield at a special price. We’ve been very accommodating to our customer base, very respectful of them, and we want to build on that.

The whole company was built on taking care of the customer, and I don’t think that really changed. I think possibly there are some playfields where people may have done something to the playfield to cause damage, I don’t really know…as a technician…I wonder how the damage occurred. I don’t know.

For Amusement Only: Silver Falls Podcast

NOTE: Nick Baldridge, the creator of Silver Falls, has started building a new game – you can follow along with the development of it on this Pinside thread!

Swag of the Week

#PinballForAll

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— Cool and Crazy Stuff —

Other Quick Hits:

  • The Mandalorian

  • Led Zeppelin

  • Star Wars Comic Edition Pin

  • Avengers Infinity Quest

  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

This content is only available for our TWIPerks members at the $5 level or higher on Patreon. Support the TWIP website and the pinball hobby by becoming a Patron today!! You can view this content and get all of the other great TWIPerks with a small monthly donation. If you already have a membership to TWIPerks from Patreon then login here.

Jersey Jack Pinball
  • Guns N’ Roses

  • Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory

  • Pirates of the Caribbean

  • Dialed In!

  • Hobbit

  • Wizard of Oz

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Chicago Gaming Company
  • Monster Bash Remake

  • Attack From Mars Remake

  • Medieval Madness Remake

This content is only available for our TWIPerks members at the $5 level or higher on Patreon. Support the TWIP website and the pinball hobby by becoming a Patron today!! You can view this content and get all of the other great TWIPerks with a small monthly donation. If you already have a membership to TWIPerks from Patreon then login here.

Spooky Pinball
  • Halloween

  • Ultraman

  • Rick and Morty

  • Alice Cooper’s Nightmare Castle

  • Total Nuclear Annihilation

This content is only available for our TWIPerks members at the $5 level or higher on Patreon. Support the TWIP website and the pinball hobby by becoming a Patron today!! You can view this content and get all of the other great TWIPerks with a small monthly donation. If you already have a membership to TWIPerks from Patreon then login here.

American Pinball
  • Hot Wheels

  • Oktoberfest

  • Houdini

This content is only available for our TWIPerks members at the $5 level or higher on Patreon. Support the TWIP website and the pinball hobby by becoming a Patron today!! You can view this content and get all of the other great TWIPerks with a small monthly donation. If you already have a membership to TWIPerks from Patreon then login here.

  • Silver Falls (uses Heist module)

  • Ranger in the Ruins (uses Cosmic Cart Racing module)

  • Heist (P3 Game Kit)

  • Cosmic Cart Racing (P3 Game Kit)

  • Lexy Lightspeed (P3 Game Kit)

  • Cannon Lagoon (P3 Game Kit)

This content is only available for our TWIPerks members at the $5 level or higher on Patreon. Support the TWIP website and the pinball hobby by becoming a Patron today!! You can view this content and get all of the other great TWIPerks with a small monthly donation. If you already have a membership to TWIPerks from Patreon then login here.

  • Retro Atomic Zombie Adventureland

  • Fire & Brimstone

  • Food Truck

  • Merlin’s Arcade

  • The Who

  • Gladiator

  • Yukon Yeti

  • Machine Age

  • Barry Oursler Black Hole Revision

This content is only available for our TWIPerks members at the $5 level or higher on Patreon. Support the TWIP website and the pinball hobby by becoming a Patron today!! You can view this content and get all of the other great TWIPerks with a small monthly donation. If you already have a membership to TWIPerks from Patreon then login here.

Haggis Pinball
  • Fathom Revisted

  • Celts

This content is only available for our TWIPerks members at the $5 level or higher on Patreon. Support the TWIP website and the pinball hobby by becoming a Patron today!! You can view this content and get all of the other great TWIPerks with a small monthly donation. If you already have a membership to TWIPerks from Patreon then login here.

  • Alien

This content is only available for our TWIPerks members at the $5 level or higher on Patreon. Support the TWIP website and the pinball hobby by becoming a Patron today!! You can view this content and get all of the other great TWIPerks with a small monthly donation. If you already have a membership to TWIPerks from Patreon then login here.

Other Manufacturers

Disclaimer: Any articles, interviews, or mentions of pinball manufacturers or pinball products is NOT an endorsement.

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