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THIS WEEK IN PINBALL: August 26th, 2019

THIS WEEK IN PINBALL: August 26th, 2019

Please note: We are taking next week off (Labor Day here in America) – we’ll be back the following week better than ever!

— This Week’s Top 5 Stories —

1. Unboxings and Code Updates on Jurassic Park and Willy Wonka

The newest games from Stern and Jersey Jack are both got code updates last week and are both arriving in the homes of pinheads!

Unboxings:

Straight Down the Middle’s Zach delivered a Jurassic Park Pro to Greg – Greg’s dream theme – check out the unboxing here:

Our friends at Pinball Undesirables unboxed and streamed a Willy Wonka machine – check it out!

Code Updates

Designer Keith Elwin also chimed on this Pinside post to clarify some of the rules:

2. Playfield Issues

There have been reports of playfield issues on some of the newer games from multiple manufacturers. In some cases, the clear coat on the playfield is bubbling and even chipping off around posts. You can see some examples here.

Christopher Hutchins of High End Pins (HEP), widely regarded as the best pinball restoration company in the industry, shared his thoughts on these issues (you can view the thoughts on this post and this post on Pinside):

In trying to figure out the extent of the issues, how many customers were being affected, and what action manufacturers and vendors were taking, TWIP reached out to Mirco, Stern Pinball, Jersey Jack Pinball, distributors, and customers.

TWIP first reached out to Mirco, who shared that they had been asked to have the communication go through the manufacturer(s), and therefore had no comment.

TWIP contacted Zach Sharpe at Stern Pinball, who shared the following:

TWIP also contacted Jack Guarnieri of Jersey Jack Pinball, who shared that he was out of the country with spotty service, and would respond after he returns on September 8th.

TWIP then contacted Jersey Jack Pinball customer support and asked around the industry for more information and it sounds like people that have been in contact with JJP have been told they are looking into the issue.

We’re still trying to gather more information to better understand the extent of these playfield issues. These problems bother some buyers more than others. We’ll keep you updated as we learn more.

3. Special When Lit: Bowen Kerins Discusses New Spooky Game

Our friends on the Special When Lit Pinball Podcast shared some interesting tidbits on their most recent podcast from Spooky’s Bowen Kerins. Bowen talked to Special When Lit’s Spooky Correspondent, Dr. John, about the next game he is working on after Alice Cooper and reveals how he is approaching the game from a coding standpoint:

Bowen: One of the things that is interesting about the Alice Cooper game is it is almost like a boss rush like from a video game, you have these long battles with these [monsters] you finish one and then you make a short trek to next one and then you fight another boss. It is very intense but it also takes all the focus away from anything else you can be doing in the game. So one of the things the next game is going to do pretty well I feel, is to always give the player multiple different options of things they could be doing at any given time, some of which may be modes or multiballs or other things – there should always be a choice.

Listen to the full episode here!

4. Update from Dutch Pinball

Dutch Pinball shared the following update last week in their newsletter:

Death Save Arcade streamed an unboxing of The Big Lebowski on Twitch which you can check out here, and also streamed gameplay on Twitch which you can check out here.

We’ll keep you posted as we learn more developments with Dutch Pinball.

5. Houdini Production Ending, Special Pricing

Last week American Pinball shared the following update regarding their Houdini pinball machine:

Contact your distributor to find the new special pricing!!

Popular Themes and their Licensing Challenges

Streamer Appreciation Giveaway – Last Chance to Enter!

Pin Stadium Lights and This Week in Pinball have teamed up to offer a special giveaway to Affiliate Twitch pinball streamers over the next two weeks!

As you know, one of our missions at TWIP is to help grow pinball in anyway we can. As a special thank for all of you to the Affiliate Twitch streamers out there who spend countless hours sharing pinball with the world, TWIP is running a contest for the next two weeks starting TODAY and ending on Monday, September 2nd. Enter for a chance to win one of THREE sets of Pin Stadium X-Streams (total value of $750) generously donated by Pin Stadium!!

How to enter:

Click Here and download this TWIP logo then display it on your streams from now until September 2nd.
Send an email to TWIP with a link to your stream with the logo displayed on your layout.
Winners will win a set of Pin Stadium X-Streams donated by Pin Stadium (a $250 value).

Note: We ask that winner display their logo on their stream when they are in use. You must be a Twitch Pinball streamer with Affiliate status to be able to enter.