Omni – Xenon
Great retro vid of an early electronic audio engineer/artist’s work to create the audio for Xenon.
Plastilina Mosh – Human Disco Ball
Keith Elwin takes IFPA Crown
Keith Elwin, co-creator of Pinball 101 and their latest movie, The Pinball Collector, and re-repeat PAPA Champion (in other words, he’s won it three times in a row) has just been officially announced as Player of the Year by the International Flipper Pinball Association (IFPA), recapturing the title from Jorian Englebrekston of Sweden. To achieve this honor requires top-level play for as much as four years (the rankings points persist for up to that long).
To understand how impressive all this is, bear in mind that the top pros estimate that around 20-30% of pinball is luck. This is somewhat similar to Poker, and why it’s quite rare to see the same person win the World Series of Poker more than once. Thus, the ones who do have an overwhelming amount of skill compared to their competitors such that they pound that luck factor into the dirt.
But that’s just the start of it. Keith went and gave away a lot of the top skills and tricks of the pros in Pinball 101, essentially saying, “Okay, so here’s how I do it. All you have to do is copy it.” And he still wins everything.
And a final factor to consider: competitive pinball as a sport is pretty “mature” at this point. In the infant days of a sport it’s not unusual to see a wunderkind who’s leagues ahead of the current competition because the strategies are still being figured out and a player has a trick or three up his sleeve. But there’s few secrets left in pinball, it’s all about execution and precision.
Curious to see how you stack up? Check out Pinball Rankings.
Here’s some videos I took of Keith in the finals against Jim Belsito at California Extreme (watch them in HD here). Congratulations to Keith.
McPinball
This commercial is vintage 19080’s, capitalizing on the explosion of skateboarding back then. I’m guessing 1986 or 87.
Surprisingly Decent Flash Pinball, Part 2
Check out Fliplast.net
More of a traditional pinball simulation using an electronics components theme. Table is a bit sparse but the flipper action and physics are better than most.
Thanks to Hans on Rec.Games.Pinball for the link.
Boule de Flipper
Corynne Charby started off as a French model who did runways, Elle, and later the no-clothes stuff in Lui – sort of the French version of Playboy. She tried to get movie roles but that didn’t work out so she started a music career. Her first sorta hit in 1986 was Boule de Flipper (‘Flipper’ is what they call pinball in France and a few other European countries). Shortly after, she married the boss of a record company and selfishly quit showing the world her goodies.
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Moi j’suis comme une bombe Qu’on a larguée Et puis qui tombe au beau milieu D’un slow d’enfer sans partenaire Moi j’suis pas faite pour les dollars Les défaites J’ai un chagrin de Baby Doll Sans idylle Sans idole
{Refrain:} Et j’vis comme une boule de flipper Qui roule Avec les oreillers du cœur En boule Et j’vis comme une boule de flipper Qui roule Voilier si t’as pas de skipper Tu coules J’lis des romans fleuve Il faut qu’j’oublie pour être toute neuve Les souvenirs c’est du poison Au goût citron J’rêve à des endroits Que j’me dessine du bout des doigts Sur les miroirs de mon studio Pas d’histoire, pas d’photo
{Refrain:} Et j’vis comme une boule de flipper Qui roule Tous mes beaux châteaux d’Equateur S’écroulent Et j’vis comme une boule de flipper Qui roule Capitaine d’un bateau chanteur Tu coules
{Iinstrumental}
Et j’vis comme une boule de flipper Qui roule Tous mes beaux châteaux d’Equateur S’écroulent Et j’vis comme une boule de flipper Qui roule Capitaine d’un bateau chanteur Tu coules |
I’m like a bomb We dropped And then falling in the middle On a slow hell without a partner I’m not made for dollars Defeats I have a sorrow Baby Doll Without romance No idol
{Refrain:} And I live like a pinball Rolling The heart with pillows Ball And I live like a pinball Rolling Sailboat skipper if you do not You sink I read novels River It must be brand new to qu’j’oublie Memories is poison Lemon to taste I dream of places What draws j’me fingertips The mirrors of my studio No story, no photo
{Refrain:} And I live like a pinball Rolling All my beautiful castles in Ecuador Collapse And I live like a pinball Rolling Master of a ship singer You sink
{} Iinstrumental
And I live like a pinball Rolling All my beautiful castles in Ecuador Collapse And I live like a pinball Rolling Master of a ship singer You sink |
Quarter in review
This blog started back around March to provide a static page for Bay Area Pinball Map. In October I started posting all the random pinball stuff I find around the web.
The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:
The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Wow.
Crunchy numbers
A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 5,200 times in 2010. That’s about 13 full 747s.
In 2010, there were 105 new posts, not bad for the first year! There were 94 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 18mb. That’s about 2 pictures per week.
The busiest day of the year was December 13th with 403 views. The most popular post that day was Still More Chinese Pinball.
Where did they come from?
The top referring sites in 2010 were forums.arcade-museum.com, facebook.com, pinside.com, groups.google.com, and petacos.forumcommunity.net.
Attractions in 2010
These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.
Still More Chinese Pinball December 2010
Pinball Skills, Techniques and Strategies April 2010
Problem: The European Pinball Player is a better pinball player than the American player. November 2010
Pacific Pinball Museum needs your help December 2010
{{Pinball Tournament!}} November 2010
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Dad-fail on Spongebob Squarepants pinball
The Time of Your Life – 96 mins.
With James Cagney. Featuring Willie, the marble-game maniac. Full movie.
Little Big Planet 2
The characters get “TRON’d” into a pinball game in this promo for Little Big Planet 2.
Pinball Collection
Great music, editing and camera work in this rundown of everything from Xenon to Gigi. They even included my favorite short-flipper game, Target Pool.
Japanese short subject on Pinball in New York
pinballbayarea.com 