Pinball Bay Area

On May 14th at Pin a Go Go I held a side contest to win a Rolling Stones translite courtesy of STERN pinball.

Each contestant would write a haiku poem with Steve as the subject.  For those who don’t know, a haiku poem most typically has five syllables in the first line, seven in the second, and five in the third, like this:

I am the Grand Champ

Except for that Danish Guy

Good thing we banned him!

I was also supposed to raffle off a t shirt by Dirty Donny from the Pacific Pinball Museum, but in all the craziness of running the tournament I forgot.  (By the way, the Dirty Donny shirts are on sale at the Pacific Pinball Museum and likely at Pacific Pinball Expo as well).

Here are all the entries, at least, the ones I could publish.  Some were a bit uh… too overt in their love for Steve Ritchie.  All the entries were sent to Steve and he picked one from the stack.

Game was Getaway
I met you at Gary’s house
You forgot to shift

Steve Ritchie is cool
He makes the best pinball games
Star Trek is the best

Steve is divine
Designing games is his thing
Let’s go have some fun

(The next one is my own favorite)

Electrons in us
Electronics in pinball
We are all pinball

I love Steve’s pinballs
All lined up in a row so nice
Press the start button

Flippers hit the ball
Most awesome game ever made
So many cool games

Pinball are flying
Hold on tight this could get rough
No time for your games

Known for pinball games
Like firepower and flash
Your art is a smash

Is pinball like cheese?
It goes great with crackers
please give me a beer

Does Steve like pinball
Does he look like a pinhead?
Pinball equals Zen

Boards don’t last forever
Less so Gottlieb System 1s
Ni-whump soothe the soul

Charlie Sheen plays pinball
No Medieval or Tycoon
Doesn’t like the trolls

I dream about you
Your deep voice talking to me
The ride of my life

Mick, Keith, Ron, Charlie
How are they still going strong?
Made the extra ball

Just a little more
I want to own that translite
Now I have brain freeze

Balls Balls Balls Balls Balls
Balls Balls Balls Balls Balls Balls Balls
Balls Balls Balls Balls Balls

Jonny loves nachos
Dylans love to play pinball
The winning haiku!

And the one Steve liked the best?

Pinball is the best
I could play it everyday
it makes my hair shine

Congratulations to Beth Davies.  You win a Rolling Stones translite and Dirty Donny T-Shirt.

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