THIS WEEK IN PINBALL – 9/4/23: Danesi Pod, Bond Deep Dive, New Pinball Locations, The Bro of Flow, & MORE

Scott Danesi & Michael Ocean on LoserKid

The LoserKid crew interviewed Scott Danesi and Michael Ocean for the soft re-launch of their latest game for Multimorphic, Final Resistance.

• We learn more about lead programmer Michael Ocean, his history with pinball, and the homebrew scene

• Scott talks about the game’s concept and high-level storyline

• Talks about how working with the P3 system differs from a more traditional pinball playfield

• Says the goal was to try to win traditional pinball people over to the P3 platform by encouraging trial through the new game

• Emulated some traditional pinball elements to help with this, like score displays in the backbox LCD screen and static inserts in the playfield screen

• Some discussion about the intersection of video game mechanics and aesthetics in pinball, particularly as it relates to Final Resistance and some of Scott’s other efforts

• Scott discusses the challenge of balancing speed and flow in his design choices

• Says Final Resistance is the most “brutal” game released for the P3 platform to date

• Notes the game will most likely be available to play at upcoming shows like Pintastic New England and Pinball Expo

TWIP Mood Music

Here’s the Turtle Power Multiball / Game Over theme from Borg’s 2020 effort, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Sound by Jerry Thompson.

James Bond Deep Dive; Plus Chats with Stern’s Michael Grant, Mike Vinikour, and Kyle Spiteri

Courtesy of pinball streamer DRI374, this is a whopping 2-hour livestream panel from the recent California Extreme show. The panel starts off with a nice conversation with Stern’s Michael Grant, Mike Vinikour, and Kyle Spiteri about their respective origin stories in the industry before moving into more James Bond-specific discussions about modes, how to play them, and eventual live gameplay

Pinball Map: New Locations Update for August 2023

The Pinball Map team is back on Kineticist to provide another monthly update for the most interesting new pinball locations to hit the app in August. Highlights include Atomic Pinball, Radioactive Pinball, and Tilt Arcade Bar

Read here: Pinball Map: New Locations for August 2023

Leading the List of Mods & Toppers: Lit Frames

Lit Frame’s 90’s Bally/Williams Lit Frame is leading the pack of mods and toppers on the new TWIP Mods & Toppers DB. Go leave a review for your favorite mods.

John Borg: Bro of Flow Part 2 on Silverball Chronicles

John Borg is a bro, and so much cooler than Silverball Chronicles host David Dennis (at least according to Mr. Dennis). This episode focuses on game designer John Borg’s career throughout his second stint with Stern starting in the early 2000s.

Enjoyed the breakdown of Borg’s design tendencies, as well as some of the more obscure tidbits like Borg designing commercial kitchen equipment, the podcasting easter-egg that almost was on Munsters, and some of the backstory behind the runup to Stern’s Indiana Jones pin in 2008.

Listen here

Odds & Evens

• For Amusement Only Games released code updates for every commercial game in their catalog and teased a new “wildly ambitious” game for the P3 in the near future (via email newsletter)

• Stern shared a sneak peek video of their new factory (Facebook)

• Jersey Jack Pinball made a key hire, welcoming Tom Kopera as Chief Operating Officer (Facebook)

• Knapp Arcade shares his plans for attempting to play and photograph a whopping 1,000 pins on an upcoming arcade trip (Knapp Arcade)

• Nudge talks about their undying love for more intimate local pinball tournaments (Nudge Magazine)

• Pinball Life is accepting entries for their Sexy Men of Pinball 2024 calendar (Pinball Life)

Meme of the Week

For those of you who have spent much time in pinball Facebook communities, this is extremely accurate!

Make sure to check out the Latest Games and Rumors page.

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