Yet another boutique pinball manufacturer has come along.  Dutch Pinball, makers of the Bride of Pinbot 2.0 software conversion kit, are throwing their hat in the ring with a full-fledged game based on the cult film THE BIG LEBOWSKI.

Priced at an eye-watering $8500, it’s safe to say The Dude himself is priced out of this one.  Can the pinball collector community abide another entry into the increasingly crowded market?

Here’s the teaser vid.

A big ‘thank you’ to Tom Collins, Eric Wagonsonner, Damien Charlety, Josh Warren, and several others for their help with running the tournament.

Tim Hansen played some solid pinball to win the event, first defeating Josh Lehan (who previously squashed me like a small insect on Batman with around 140M to my 70M) and sending him to the Loser’s bracket.  Josh went on to rally and defeat TJ Beyer for a second shot at Tim.  Fatigue was clearly setting in for both players.  On the first game of Attack from Mars, neither player cracked 2B, and there were noticeable fatigue-induced flipper fumbles.  Tim was able to hold off Josh on Fish Tales and take the win.  Congrats Tim!

MAIN Tournament

SIDE TOURNAMENT

In side tourney action, everyone on Star Trek washed out in Round 3, including yours truly, while six players on Radical advanced to Round 4 on Whirlwind.  In Round 4, only Walter Hurwitz surpassed the required score of 8M, so if no other players could do likewise, he was the guaranteed winner.

The side tournament format was ‘High Jump’.  In Round 1, you had to either get 10M on Star Trek or 3M on Radical.  In Round 2 you needed 16M on Star Trek or 5M on Radical.  Each round gets tougher until four or less players are left, at which point they play for highest score.

Damien didn’t do well in the main tournament but managed to make it to Round 4 in the side tourney.  He finally remembered he was playing in a competition and turned his game up to full blast, just squeaking over the 8M line on the end-of-ball bonus of his last ball to earn a face-off with Walter.   I made some jokes about the French to get Damien fired up and it worked.  He put up a solid 10.8M on a very mean Whirlwind with extra balls turned off (the low score in Round 4 was under a million!).  Walter also had a solid game but came up just a bit short. Congrats to Damien!

Have a happy and safe New Years everyone!

Hey folks, it’s been brought to my attention that Hi Life doesn’t open on the weekends until 4pM!  Tee hee, oops.  So the start time will be 5 PM.  We’ll be starting promptly at 5PM and due to the tighter schedule, all three games in each match will be assigned as opposed to player’s choice.

Sorry for confusion and see you there!

An ‘intimate’ turnout for the Legionnaire Saloon Time Attack.  Congrats to TJ Beyer for the win,  and newcomers Donald and Bob for exemplary finishes!

Newcomer to the Bay Area but no stranger to pinball, Joey Springer took down the third and final periodic tourney at Hi-Life.  Congrats!

1 Joey Springer
2 Tom Collins
3 Chris Lindboe
4 Nina G
5 TJ Beyer
6 Josh Warren
7 Matt Willmarth
7 Maurice Tierney
7 Chris Harkins
10 Eugene Gershtein
10 Jake Doran
10 Walter Hurwitz
10 Jon Olkowski
14 Jeff Fehervari
15 Devon Kelly
15 David Joud
15 Andreas Haustraup Pedersen
15 Jessica Rogers
19 James Squires
19 John Lautmann

Mark Birsching is one of the guys who puts on California Extreme.  He’s also pretty big into Christmas!

https://vimeo.com/album/2645545/video/81618902

This year the PPM is BIGGER!

 MORE GAMES!  MORE FUN!
100 Pinball games on Free Play, no quarters needed.
Free Flipper Finger Food and traditional Champagne Toast.   Hats, party favors and a raffle.  Our Private Party room will be filled with DJs and Dancing.

7:30pm to 1am
$35 Adults, $20 Kids 16 and under

For more information write to info@pacificpinball.org.
Call 510-205-6959

Advance tickets: http://pacificpinball.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=ef47226217128bee5f636fee4&id=254232b660&e=ae77dcfeef

Time Attack tournament tomorrow night!  $5 plus coin drop.  7pm start.  See you there!