Yeah, it’s the newer STERN pin which is based on the entire series including the abomination known as Crystal Skull, but after a few beers maybe it looks prettier.

http://uptownalmanac.com/2010/12/big-news-pinball

It was common in the pre/early interweb days (when you were a pimp if you had a 14.4kbps modem) for coin-op manufacturers to send promotional video cassettes to arcade operators and distributors to sell their products.  These were low-budget affairs ranging from the mildly interesting to the… well… this fine specimen here, which I like to call “comedy gold”.

From Randy and Keith Elwin, the guys who brought you Pinball 101 comes their latest video: The Pinball Collector, on sale starting December 16th.

Fans of Pinball 101 will recognize a similar style to Pinball 101 however this is a very different film, aimed squarely at enthusiasts who are interested in historical games and pinball history in general.  It is, at its core, a fairly straightforward rundown of notable games of yesteryear, and by yesteryear I’m speaking of the 1930s through the 1950s, with a sprinkling of pinball “pre-history” thrown in, such as turn-of-the-century bagatelles.

Each featured game is prefaced with newsreel or film footage of the time to add atmosphere to the presentation of the games.  And many games which were “firsts” at something are featured: the first game with flippers, the first multiball, and so on.  Also featured are games which are just plain odd and amazing, such as Fury, an EM from 1935 which sends trapped balls through a chutes and ladders arrangement of wireforms and scoring holes.

Without a doubt, The Pinball Collector represents the most professional, high quality filming of vintage historic games available, and fans of these games or the curious can expect a great deal of eye candy.

Martin Ayub and I were sent a copy of the film to review prior to release.  Martin covers additional features of the film and I took on interviewing Randy Elwin on the production, Pinball 101 and TourneyCam.  You can read it here:

http://www.pinballnews.com/learn/tpc/

Pinball 101 is far and away the most professional and well-produced movie ever made for teaching pinball skills.  It was a great buy at $20 for the DVD, but at only $1.99 on iTunes, it’s an absolute steal.

Get Pinball 101 for iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/app/pinball-101/id396146403?mt=8#

The Seattle Weekly profiles one of the best players in World, who also just happens to be autistic.

http://www.seattleweekly.com/2010-12-08/news/robert-gagno-the-rain-man-of-pinball/

Odd Chinese pinball with clear plastic flippers. It’s made by a company called I-sys in Hong Kong. http://www.i-sys.com.hk/pinball.html

I did a short write-up of the the Pacific Pinball Open and sent it off to the Pinball News, with full results and pictures.

Check it, fellow flipper ballers!

http://www.pinballnews.com/shows/ppo2010/

If you’re one of those people who think video games, and pinball video games in particular, are hellspawn that need to be killed with fire, then I suggest you look away now.  For everyone else, Cannonbolt is a surprisingly fun little distraction, incorporating some cool boss battle features, modes, multi-level tables and a sort of force field like ball saver.  Basically, it doesn’t attempt to emulate real pinball but does things that aren’t possible in the real world.

The physics, like all flash games, leave something to be desired but feel far more intuitive than most other games I’ve played.  Not “real-world”, mind you, but intuitive – similar to how the physics feel intuitive in modern first person shooter games even though they’re not real in the slightest.

A big plus for this game is the ability to use Z and ? keys for the flipper buttons.  Games which only allow the left and right arrows are basically unplayable by default.

http://www.gamegape.com/id-930-ben-10-cannonbolt-pinball.html

If you know of any other decent online pinball games, let us know!

http://www.gamegape.com/id-930-ben-10-cannonbolt-pinball.html

Steve Mcqueen plays a game of Skill Pool.  Skill Pool has flippers but Steve doesn’t use them (too cool?).  Likewise, you hear very little from the machine – just enough for one to get the sense of pinball but not so intrusive that the two characters can’t hold a conversation.

A similar situation came up just prior to IFPA 7.  I helped arrange an interview of Mads Kristensen by the local CBS news affiliate. (pics) and they tried to interview him while he played on a woodrail.  It became obvious within a few seconds that it was impossible to conduct any sort of interview that could be aired on television while a game was being played.  They ended up recording audio of the pinball game later and mixing it in and Mads just pretend played while he answered questions.

This backglass is proof that a plane full of cocaine crashed into Gottlieb in 1988.

Photo: Internet Pinballl Machine Database (ipdb.org)

And by “help”, let’s be honest, they need a few bucks.  Basically their mobile pinball museum, the Lil’ Ju Ju, got damaged when a wheel came off.  They take this thing everywhere to share pinball: art shows, schools, county fairs.  Sometimes they rent it out to support the Museum.  Many of you saw it at Pin a Go Go back in May and some of you may have seen it at Maker Faire as well.

You can help in a couple ways:

Donate a few dollars here.

http://www.crowdrise.com/saveliljuju/fundraiser/savepinball

or more directly here (and guaranteed no future spam mail):

http://www.pacificpinball.org/get-involved/donations

Share this post with others to get the word out.  Either you can email them the link:

https://pinballbayarea.wordpress.com/2010/12/08/helpppm/

or you can use one of the Facebook or Twitter icons at the bottom of this post.

Even if you donate only $5 or even a buck that’s cool.  But if you donate $30 or more, you also get one free entry to the museum in Alameda, either for yourself or a friend.  90 games of pinball from all eras all on free play.  This makes a great Christmas Gift for a friend.  Just print out your donation email receipt (or forward it to a friend so they can) and bring it in.  Thanks for your support!