THIS WEEK IN PINBALL: March 30th, 2020

The Scoop

— QUICK HITS —

TWIPYs Recap!

On behalf of Imoto and Cary and everyone involved with creating the TWIPYs this year, thank you for tuning in on Saturday night and hanging out, we had a blast!!

George Gomez Talks Beatles Sequel

Our friends at the 80s Arcade Podcast interviewed George Gomez last week! Gomez, who is Stern Pinball’s Chief Creative Officer, discussed his life and work in arcade games, and also had a few very interesting nuggets regarding Stern Pinball:

On online connectivity of Stern machines:

George Gomez: This coming year I’m going to put the games online.  We’re finally bringing pinball into the current century.  That is the project I’m most excited about is the connectivity project, [that] is what I’m focused on every day now.

On possibly doing a sequel to the Beatles:

George Gomez: Funny you should say that.  We have talked a little bit about – the obvious thing is to do a Yellow Submarine version.  So it’s been discussed but I don’t know if that is ever going to happen.  But it was discussed, that imagery is cool.  There has been a lot of talk about it.  But we’d have to figure out a way to make it worthwhile.

The interview with George was broken into two podcast – check out the full episodes here!!

SAPS: Spooky Next Title Licensed, Charlie Emery Talks CGC Teaming up with Spooky

Our friends at the Super Awesome Pinball Show were joined by Charlie Emery last week! Here are just a couple highlights:

On Ben Heck’s New Game and working with CGC:

Charlie Emery: So everybody that knows anything about Spooky knows that Ben was incredibly important for us getting off the ground…he is a huge part of our history.  And he’s kind of put out there sort of what this game is.  It started as a Spooky project a few years ago.  And he got a little frustrated with us because we couldn’t tie up the license that he wanted at the time.  We were doing everything we could, but to be blunt we couldn’t afford it.  And it never sat well with me, I always felt like we let Ben down in that regard.  And when he decided he was taking a break and walking away…we just parked the game.  And [we said] we’re going to wait until we get this right, we’re going to wait until an opportunity presents itself…[discusses how Spooky and CGC were helping each other out by taking games to shows and such]…and it got to the point where Doug [Duba said] “Hey, we don’t have a full on design team with all the retheme games and stuff, we should work on something together, do you have anything?  And boom, as soon as he said it, yes I do sir!  And it is a really really good game and really deserves to be made…and I think everybody is going to freak out when they see what it is.

On the next game from Spooky Pinball after Rick and Morty:

Charlie Emery: I can tell you the game after Rick and Morty I did not choose…I did not pick the next license, it was one I was talked into, and the person [that picked it] felt extremely passionate about it…I’m very glad we’re doing it.

Charlie also talks about everything Rick and Morty and going after that license, talks about Rick and Morty production with the coronavirus obstacles, talks about Spooky’s move to a new facility and that they’re moving a lot of things in-house (for example, powder coating and ramp making), the new loading dock, and much much more!! Check out the full show here!!

Hot Wheels Features

American Pinball shared a list of playfield features and rule features last week on this Pinside post – check it out!

Heist Stream and Production Updates

Last week Multimorphic shared an update on their production of their newest creation, Heist:

Heist Stream

Jack Danger of Dead Flip hosted Gerry Stellenberg streaming Heist on Saturday afternoon – check out the stream here!!

For Amusement Only Talks Heist Rules

Our friend Nick Baldridge at For Amusement Only – The EM & Bingo Pinball Podcast was joined by his daughter Ava to take a deep dive into the rules of Heist – check out the podcast here!!

Also, host Nick Baldridge is making his own P3 game called Quest For Glory!! Check out this Pinside thread to follow along with the build!

Stern Distributors Now Renting Games

Stern Pinball announced via bleedingcool.com that many distributors will now be renting machines for a few hundred dollars a month! Check out more information in the article here, and contact your favorite distributor to get your rental!!

Chicago Gaming Company Releases Statement Regarding COVID-19

Our friends at Chicago Gaming Company released the following update last week regarding their operations:

New Elvira Code – v0.93

— Cool and Crazy Stuff —

It’s a Southern Thing

Our friends from It’s a Southern Thing on Facebook showed off their game room last week, and the live stream is at almost 400,000 views at the time of this writing – check it out here!

Broadway’s Patti LuPone has Police Force Pinball

I heard somebody wanted to see more of my basement. pic.twitter.com/fBea7emR6h

Other Quick Hits:

Other Manufacturers

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

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