The rad guys over at Tilt Warning just posted this awesome vid of top-level Family Guy play from Pinburgh 2011 with commentary by Bowen Kerins.

Family Guy is a very popular game so the strategies are pretty refined at this point despite its relative newness.  As such we get to see some great flipper skills in action as each player does his best to execute a solid game plan.

Be sure to check out Tilt Warning for lot of other video and tournament goodness.

The next pinball produced by STERN will be based on the TRON: Legacy franchise.  The game likely won’t debut at or around the time of the next TRON film as verification that TRON 3 would even be made only came out about a month ago.

News of this game has been burning up the pinball message boards and for the first time in a long time the crowd’s response seems to be very positive and anticipation is high.  Combined with the return of legendary designer Steve Ritchie, STERN’s future in the near term is looking pretty good.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/81224/pink-panther-cartoons-pink-arcade

For your consideration is this episode of The Worst Witch featuring a Gottlieb Bowling Queen wedgehead from the days of olden. The Worst Witch is a favorite show among teenage girls as well as middle-age men who like to take frequent trips to Thailand.

I have long held the belief that Wedgeheads could be used for witch-like chicanery and demon summoning and whatnot, and now we finally have some undeniable proof.  Unlike the girls of my grade school days who would wile away the hours staring at Tom Cruise posters and destroy the ozone layer styling each others hair with Aquanet, the girls in the Worst Witch spend their free time trying to summon hellspawn.  Depending on your opinion of Tom Cruise it’s difficult to say which is the worse offense, now that I think about it.

Wow, this one is long for this sort of thing.  Around three and a half minutes.  That game is a re-themed Hurricane.

What is it?

Aren’t pinball tournaments super-serious affairs? And you have to spend a lot of money and time to participate?

Not this one!

If you’ve never played in a pinball tournament this is a fun and easy way to give it a try. We’re keeping this tournament relaxed and social because that’s what Pin a Go Go is all about. Entry is just $5 and all proceeds after expenses will be donated to the Boys and Girls Club.

Who can play?

Any Pin a Go Go attendee can enter. There will awards for Open, Novice and Kids. If your kid is a whiz kid s/he can also enter Open/Novice division.

What can I win?

Plaques and prizes will be awarded to:

• Top 8 Open Players
• Top 8 Novice players
• Top 4 Kids (13 years and younger)

In addition, the first 10 Kids who complete their entries will get a mini-plaque fridge magnet for participation. There will also be some freebies and fun “side quests” available.

How long does it take? Will I have to miss the rest of the show?

The tournament will be run on Saturday of the show.

It will take two to three hours for a typical Open/Novice player to play all their qualifier games. You don’t have to play them all at once. You can come and go as you please and enjoy the rest of the show. Note, however, it is up to you to get all your games done during the qualifying period.

If you make the playoffs they will start at 6 PM the same day. If you go the distance and make it to the final rounds of play, we expect to finish the competition between 7:30 and 9pm.

Kids will play two games two times each in a regular high-score format and do not have to come back for finals. For most kids it will take a half hour for them to play at most. There are no finals for the Kids tournament.

What is Pin Golf? How does it work?

In Pin Golf, objectives are set on each machine. For example, score 3 Million points on Scared Stiff, or complete the FILM letters on Creature from the Black Lagoon. The player attempts to accomplish each objective with the fewest number of balls as possible (like strokes in golf). If you’re unclear on how to accomplish the goal or the best way to do it, just ask! We are all friendly and will share our tips and strategies.

After 6 “holes” (games) the players with the best total scores advance to the playoffs/finals.

When: Saturday May 14, 2011. Registration starts at 10 AM and closes at 2 PM. Entry is limited to 64 Open/Novice players. Kids can enter any time.

Warm Up: You can warm up from 10 – 11:30 if you want. If you can’t get there that early, you can play one ball before your official entry on each game. Sorry, but once the tournament is underway the warm-up time has to be limited like this for us to keep on schedule.

What does it cost: $5. Unlike many other tournaments this will not be an “open qualifier” where you keep buying and buying qualifier entries. It is just a flat $5 per person.

I’ve read all this and I’m still confused! Who do I talk to? Email our tournament director at tournament@pinagogo.com

On May 14 I’m running a tournament at Pin a Go Go.  The first 10 kids who complete their entries will get one of these mini-plaque fridge magnets with art by Greg Feres, along with some other little goodies.

Last year Nike created a custom, full-size virtual pinball game for their store in Madrid to promote a new product line.  The makers boast over 12,000 plays in a 3-week period and 360,000+ search hits from Google.

Here’s a video that shows the game.  The second vid shows a developer discussion (in Spanish)

http://vimeo.com/22145685

Famous actors, whether or not they can sing, eventually get around to singing something.  Here’s Gerard Depardieu barely talk-singing his way through something.

“Elle flippe devant le flipper” literally means “Flip before the flipper”.  Maybe it means “Flip before being flipped”, similar to “Dump before being dumped” or something along those lines.