THE WIZARD OF OZ:
MORE FROM E3

Date: 8th June, 2012

Our previous article reported on the first public showing of Jersey Jack Pinball's The Wizard of Oz at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) show in Los Angeles. We said then that we'd have more details on the event and more video would become available, and that's what we have for you in this latest update.

Orange and red LED lighting effects
Orange and red LED lighting effects

The game was being showed on the Dynamics Inc. stand, which is the company behind the ePlate electronic payment system and which previously announced a tie-up with JJP for it's rewards programme and to give away a The Wizard of Oz machine as a promotional prize.

Jeff Mullen, CEO of Dynamics Inc with Jack Guarnieri
Jeff Mullen, CEO of Dynamics Inc with Jack Guarnieri

Dynamics Inc have posted a video on their website showing how the ePlate, in conjunction with a smartphone app, allows users of the cashless transaction system to earn rewards and build towards earning JJP merchandise and a shot at that free game.

The playfield inserts and feature lighting
Using the Experience Manager to set up the ePlate

You can watch the video on the Dynamics website or download it here.

Young gamers give pinball a try
Young gamers give pinball a try

A group of visitors to E3 play The Wizard of Oz
More visitors gather round to E3 play The Wizard of Oz

Probably the most eye-catching aspect of the game was the LED lighting effects which uses red, green, blue LED lamps under each of the 103 inserts on the playfield. These three colour devices are each driven with a 10-bit pulse width modulation signal, allowing 1024 different intensities of each colour, or 1,073,741,824 total colour combinations per LED lamp.

Some of the LED colours available on The Wizard of Oz

As we mentioned in the update to our previous article, Geek Gamer TV has extensive coverage of The Wizard of Oz at E3 along with interviews with Jack Guarnieri and Jeff Mullen.

Amongst the details shown by Jack on his iPad was this view of the game's 'dashboard' display, showing the player's progress through the key features.

The game's 'dashboard'
The game's 'dashboard'

You can watch the whole segment on the Geek Gamer Network website, where the JJP/Dynamics coverage starts around the 1h 11m mark.

There are also additional videos showing the Witch's Castle mini-playfield, the wicked witch mechanism and Dorothy's house spinning.

The Witch's Castle

The Wicked Witch mechanism

Dorothy's House

Jack said, "We had such an amazing show. It was great to see so many young people amazed by the game. Being at E3 is a statement that we are reaching out to millions of people who do not even know what modern mechanical action pinball is when it's married to today's technology."

Now that the E3 show is over, attention moves up the west coast to Seattle and the NW Pinball & Arcade Show where Jack and Keith Johnson will be teaming up again and bringing the demonstrator game with them.

Jack will be giving a talk at the show and it will be shown live on their website, and the game will be making an appearance during Jack's talk from 6pm PST.

 

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