Date: 15th - 17th January, 2016 Location: Museum of Pinball, 700 South Hathaway, Banning, CA 92220, USA Twelve months ago the very first Arcade Expo was held at the new Museum of Pinball in Banning, near Palm Springs in California. One year later, we’re at Arcade Expo 2.0 to experience it for ourselves and bring you all the details. This way to Arcade Expo The Museum of Pinball is housed in a dedicated building on the outskirts of the city of Banning, which is around 90 minutes’ drive east from Los Angeles. The Museum of Pinball It’s fair to say it’s pretty much in the middle of nowhere. Not quite the kind of place where the tumbleweed is your only companion, but… One of the neighbours But that relative remoteness means there plenty of space available, and with a collection the size of John Weeks’, space is a definite requirement. The front of the building The regular entrance to the Museum is at the front of the property, but for Arcade Expo, ticket collection and registration payment took place at the back. The registration desks The show opened officially at 2pm on Friday 15th January, but we got in early to check out the collection. The games are split into two. On one side of the building are all the video games, and there are lots of these. Some of the games in the Museum’s collection Classic upright videos An overview of the video collection A number of vendor stands were set up around the perimeter, selling home consoles, cartridges, manuals, and assorted collectables. A few of the vendors Remember, a Pac-Man is not just for Christmas The other, larger part of the building houses the pinball collection. And what a collection it is. The pinball collection Two huge long rows of back-to-back machines run the length of the building, while on the left sit more rows of electromechanical games. Row upon row of EM machines Machines being repaired before the official opening On the opposite side of the room to the EM rows were the two It Never Drains In Southern California (INDISC) tournaments – one for modern games, and one for the classics. The tournament machines on the far side of the room Qualifying in the the INDISC modern tournament All the modern tournament machines were fitted with overhead cameras and large LCD displays for spectators. For those not able to attend, video of the games will be streamed. The video streaming equipment In an adjacent area, qualifying for the Classics Tournament was underway. Early qualifiers in the Classics Tournament Qualifying in the Classics Tournament In both the Modern and Classics Tournaments, the queues for each machine were managed by the Drains Tournament Manager software. Who is playing when Although the show didn’t open until 2pm, early qualifying for the tournaments was allowed for those who pre-registered. Once 2pm arrived, qualifying was open to everyone. The show is now open Visitors were encouraged to sign the wall Arcade Expo is sufficiently large that even more space was needed for vendors, so they were accommodated outside and in a large tent. Some of the food vendors outside Today’s menu Craft beers were available too The vendor tent Marco Specialties had a large stand selling parts and featuring a selection of the newest Stern Pinball machines. The Marco Specialties stand The machines had headphones fitted Micro from High Class Pinballs also had space in the tent, as did Nifty LED. High Class Pinballs Nifty LED were alongside High Class Pinballs The far end of the tent housed a selection of pinballs destined for the weekend’s auction. Auction games Saturday at Arcade Expo began at 10am, by which time a queue of eager visitors waited for the doors to open. Saturday’s opening It wasn’t long before many of the pinballs were occupied, although if you didn’t mind which game, you’d always be able to find something to play. Saturday morning Starting to get busy It was too busy on Friday to see the games or the decoration properly, but at the back of the pinball hall is an ‘adult’s only’ room, featuring games with a more grown-up theme or content such as Sexy Girl or The Sopranos. Also, since the room was lit by UV lamps, games with UV-reactive features were included. These were Big Bang Bar and Roller Derby. The adult room UV-reactive wall decorations Here’s a full list of the 487 free play pinballs set up in the main building at Arcade Expo 2016. Main Hall 2001 4 Queens 4 Square A.G. Soccer-Ball* Abra Ca Dabra AC/DC Let There Be Rock LE Addams Family, The Air Aces Airborne* Aladdin’s Castle Algar Alien Poker Aloha Alpine Club Al’s Garage Band Goes on a World Tour Amigo Andromeda* Aquarius Archer Asteroid Annie & the Aliens* Astro Atlantis Atleta Attack from Mars Attila the Hun Austin Powers Avengers Hulk LE, The Avengers LE, The Aztec Back to the Future Bad Cats Bank Shot Bank-A-Ball* Banzai Run* Barracora Baseball Batman (DE) Batman Dark Knight Beat the Clock Big Bang Bar Big Brave Big Casino4Flipper Fair Big Game Big Guns Big Shot Big Shot Big Show Big Star Black Hole* Black Jack Black Knight Black Knight 2000 Black Pyramid Black Rose Blackjack* Blackout Blackwater 100 Blue Note BMX* Bon Voyage Bounty Hunter Bow and Arrow Bowling Queen Bowl-O Breakshot Bride of Pinbot, The Machine Bronco Buccaneer Buckaroo Bugs Bunny’s Birthday Ball Butterfly Cactus Canyon Cactus Jack’s Camelot* Capersville Capt. Card Capt. Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy Capt. Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy Captain Hook* Card Whiz Card Whiz Catacomb Centaur Centigrade 37 Central Park Challenger* Champ Charlie’s Angels* Checkpoint Circus Cirqus Voltaire City Slicker Cleopatra (EM)* Cleopatra (SS)* Close Encounters of the Third Kind (EM)* Close Encounters of the Third Kind (SS)* Comet Congo Contact Corvette Cosmic Gunfight Cosmic Princess Cosmos Cosmos Cover Girl Cow Poke Creature from the Black Lagoon Cross Town Cybernaut Cyclopes* Daffie Dale Jr. Darling Dealers Choice Defender Delta Queen Demolition Man Devil Riders* Devil Riders* Devil’s Dare* Diamond Jack Dimension Diner Dipsy Doodle Dixieland Dogies Dolly Parton Domino Doodle Bug Dracula (Stern) Dracula, Bram Stoker’s Dragon* Drop-A-Card Dungeons and Dragons Duotron Earthshaker! Eclipse Egg Head Eight Ball Eight Ball Deluxe Eight Ball Deluxe* El Dorado El Toro Elektra Elvis Embryon Evel Knievel Evel Knievel* Excalibur Expressway* Extra Inning Eye of the Tiger* F-14 Tomcat Fan-Tas-Tic Far Out* Farfalla Fathom Fire Mountain* Fire! Fireball Fireball II Fireball II* Firecracker Firepower Firepower II Fish Tales Flash Flash Gordon Flicker Flight 2000 Flintstones, The Flip a Card Flip Flop! Flipper Clown Flipper Cowboy Flipper Football Flipper Pool* Flying Carpet Fore Four Million B.C. Frankenstein, Mary Shelley’s* Freddy: A Nightmare on Elm Street Free Fall Freedom Freedom Freefall Frontier Fun Land Funhouse Future Spa Galahad Galaxy Game Show, The Bally Gay 90s Genie Gold Ball Gold Wings Golden Arrow Golden Cue, Kelly Packard’s Gorgar Grand Lizard Grand Slam Gridiron Gridiron Guns N’ Roses Hang Glider Hardbody Harlem Globetrotters Harley Davidson (Stern) Harley-Davidson (Bally) Haunted House* Hercules High Roller Casino High Speed 2: The Getaway* High-Speed Hi-Lo Ace Hi-Score Pool* Hit the Deck Hokus Pokus Home Run Hoo, Bally Hook Hot Doggin’ Hot Wheels* Hurdy Gurdy Hurricane* Ice Fever Indiana Jones (Stern) Indiana Jones (WMS) Iron Man Jackbot Jackpot Jacks Open Jet Spin Jive Time* Johnny Mnemonic Joker Poker* Jokerz! Jolly Park* Joust Joust* Joust* (Bally) Judge Dredd Jumping Jack Jungle Jungle King Jungle Lord Jungle Queen* Junkyard Jurassic Park Kick Off! King Cool King of Diamonds King Tut Kiss (Bally) Klondike Knockout* Lady Luck Laser Cue* Laser War Last Action Hero Lectronamo Lightning Little Joe Lizard Locomotion Lord of the Rings, The Lost World Lost World* Lucky Seven Magic Magic Castle Magnotron* Majorettes Mariner Mars Trek Mars Trek Masquerade Mata Hari Mata Hari* Medieval Madness Medusa Memory Lane Metallica LE Meteor Mibs Mini Cycle Mini Zag Monday Night Football Monopoly Monster Bash Monte Carlo Mr & Mrs Pac-Man Music Man Mustang LE Mystic NBA Fastbreak NASCAR Neptune Night Rider Nine Ball Nip-It Nitro Ground Shaker No Fear No Good Gofers North Star Nugent Odds & Evens Old Chicago Olympics On Beam Op-Pop-Pop Orbitor 1 Outer Space Oxo Paradise Paragon Phantom of the Opera* Pharaoh Phoenix Pinball Champ Pinball Magic Pinbot Pink Panther* Pirates of the Caribbean Pistol Poker Pit Stop* Play Ball Play Mates Playboy (Bally) Police Force Pool Sharks Popeye Saves the Earth Pop-Up* Power Play, Bobby Orr Pro Pool Pyramid* Quicksilver Race-way Radical! Rawhide Revenge from Mars Ripley’s Believe it or Not! Riverboat Gambler Ro Go Road Race Roadshow Robocop Robo-War Rock Makers Rock Star Rocket II Rocky & Bullwinkle Rocky* Roller Coaster Roller Disco Rollergames Rolling Stones (Bally) Rolling Stones, The (Stern) Round Up Royal Guard* Safe Cracker Scared Stiff Scorpion Scuba Sea Ray Secret Service Sexy Girl Shadow, The Shaq Attaq* Sharp Shooter II* Sharpshooter* Show Boat* Silverball Mania Simpsons Pinball Party, The Sinbad* Six Million Dollar Man, The Skylab Sky-Line Skyrocket Slap Stick Sleic Pin-Ball Solar Fire Solar Ride* Solids & Stripes Sopranos, The Sorcerer South Park Space Invaders Space Odyssey Space Shuttle Space Station Space Time Spanish Eyes Speak Easy (Bally) Speakeasy (Playmatic) Spectrum Spider-Man Black LE Spin-A-Card Spin-Out Spirit Split Second Spring Break* Stampede Star Gazer Star God Star Light Star Trek (Bally) Star Trek (DE) Star Trek (Stern) LE Star Trek: The Next Generation Star Wars (DE) Star Wars Episode 1 Stargate Stars Stellar Wars Stingray Stock Car Straight Flush* Strange Science* Strange World Strike Zone Striker Super Soccer Super Straight Super-Flite Superman* Supersonic Sure Shot Surfer Surfers Sweet Hearts Swords of Fury Tag-Team Tales from the Crypt Tales of the Arabian Nights Target Alpha Taxi Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Terminator 2 The Simpsons* Theatre of Magic Thoro-Bred* Time 2000* Time Fantasy Time Line* Time Machine* (Zac) Time Tunnel Time Warp Title Fight Toledo Tommy, The Who’s* Torch Touchdown Trail Drive* Transformers Split LE Travel Time Trident Tron LE Tropic Fun* Twilight Zone TX-Sector Vampire Varkon Vector Verne’s World Viking Viper Voltan Escapes Cosmic Doom Vulcan Warlock Wheel of Fortune Whirlwind Whitewater Who Dunnit Wild Card Wild Life Winner* Wizard! World Cup World Cup Soccer World Poker Tour Wyld Fire Xenon X-Men Magneto LE X’s & O’s Zip-A-Do *indicates machine was not working or not powered up In addition, a Premier Strikes and Spares was in the cocktail bar, while the Kids’ Room had a Super Mario Bros. Mushroom World (not working) and there was a Baby Pac-Man in the video hall. In the tent, Marco Specialties had six of the latest Stern pinballs on free play, making a grand total of 496 pinballs: Tent Game of Thrones Pro Game of Thrones LE Kiss LE Walking Dead, The LE Whoa Nellie! Big Juicy Melons WWE Wrestlemania LE The tournament area had twelve machines for the Modern Tournament and seven for the Classics. Modern Tournament Demolition Man Doctor Who Godzilla Grand Lizard High Speed 2: The Getaway Hoops Laser War Rock Torpedo Alley Twister Walking Dead, The Waterworld Classic Tournament Cleopatra Dragonfist Flash Gordon Hokus Pokus Jacks Open Rock Skateball Finally, Project Pinball has two machines on their stand which were used for high score tournaments. The Project Pinball stand Those, at least, were the machines within the Arcade Expo compound. Those who were taking advantage of the camping facilities available had a few more to enjoy. Outdoor pinball More pinball al fresco It’s not just pinball The view from the campground There had been a couple of seminars scheduled for Friday, but they were either lightly attended or didn’t happen. However, at midday on Saturday there was a popular seminar with Keith and Randy Elwin where they talked about and demonstrated their Archer custom pinball. Keith and Randy with Archer The packed seminar room The game is a work-in-progress with no artwork and only partial rules, but it was fully playable. Archer pinball After answering questions about the game, Keith and Randy invited audience members to play it for themselves. Here’s a video of the gameplay, and we also have an audio recording of the seminar below. https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/arcade-expo-2016/archerpinball.mp3 In the afternoon there was a dedication ceremony for the Walter Day Trading Card Museum which is also part of the Museum of Pinball. Walter Day Walter is an iconic figure in the video gaming world, setting up the Twin Galaxies world records site and producing trading cards to record and commemorate both achievements and the people involved in gaming of all kind. A special area of the Museum has been set aside by owner John Weeks to display these trading cards. John with Walter The corridor is lined with framed trading cards More trading cards The main trading card display room Later, a special VIP dinner took place at the nearby The Haven restaurant. Along with the Italian-style food, Brew Rebellion were sampling their Infamous Ed Palmer lemon pale ale and John Paul Jones Chocolate Stout beers. The dinner at The Haven This event was to unveil a customised High Speed 2 – The Getaway machine, created by Tim Moyers. Tim with his Getaway The game features all new cabinet and backbox airbrushed artwork, sealed with an automotive clearcoat, new translite and speaker panel artwork, modified playfield and bottom arch artwork, customised playfield components, a custom ColorDMD, and a PinSound board with a redesigned sound package. Tim’s Getaway A high score competition was held on the game during the evening with prizes for the top scores of the night. Then it was back to the Museum of Pinball for the remainder of the evening, which included a pinball-themed pub quiz and game playing until 2am. Around lunchtime on Saturday we completed our video walk around the Arcade Expo show. Normally these would last eight, ten or maybe fifteen minutes to show you everything. Arcade Expo has so many machines, we present our Forty Minute Tour of the Museum of Pinball. Don’t forget you can expand this to full frame and adjust the quality all the way up to 1080p. The It Never Drains In Southern California (INDISC) tournament finals took place on Sunday. The Classic Tournament finals were held first thing Sunday morning so that they didn’t delay the Modern Tournament finals later in the day. Both tournaments had two divisions – A & B – with the top 16 in Classics and the top 24 in the Modern qualifying for the A division, and the next 8 in the B division subject to restrictions on world-class players being allowed to play in B. Players could buy unlimited entries to try to get a good score on all 12 of the Modern or 7 of the Classic machines. Entries costs $5 each, 3 for $10, or 7 for $20. Scores on all machines were ranked with ranking points awarded for position. The best 6 scores in Modern and best 5 in Classics made up a player’s total score. After a series of 4-player, 3-game quarter-finals, semi-finals, and the final, the top four in the two Classics divisions were: Classics A Division Pos 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Name Damien Charléty Trent Augenstein Bob Matthews Johnny Modica Classics B Division Pos 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Name Adam Preszler Martin Robbins Brian Mundo Mark Schulz The top four in the Classics A division: Bob Matthews, Trent Augenstein, Johnny Modica & Damien Charléty (picture: Jim Belsito) In the Modern Tournament, the B division finished pretty quickly with just eight players taking part. Here are the results: Modern B Division Pos 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Name Lee Moscaritolo Zachary Parks Tim Moyers Derek Miazga The top four in the Modern B division: Lee Moscaritolo, Zachary Parks, Tim Moyers & Derek Miazga (picture: Inland Empire Pinball Association) The A division, however, continued beyond the show’s closure at 8pm. Quarter-finals in the Modern A division The play-offs were streamed live on PAPAtv on Twitch The final was between top qualifier Keith Elwin, second-placed qualifier Zach Sharpe, sixth-placed qualifier Jim Belsito, and eighth-placed qualifier Raymond Davidson. The four-game final began on Torpedo Alley. Points were awarded for the finishing position in each game with 3 points for the winner, going down to 0 points for fourth place. Keith Elwin starts the final Keith got off to a great start with his first ball, scoring 9M and ending on 12.2M to win game 1. Jim was second on just shy of 2M, Raymond was third on 1.4M, while Zach was fourth on 748K. Game two was on Rock and this time it was Raymond who had the upper hand, scoring more than 1.5M on his first ball. Raymond wins on Rock Raymond ended up with 2.1M which gave him the win ahead of Keith’s 1.7M, Jim’s 1.3M, and Zach’s 0.95M. The third game was Twister on which Keith built up an early lead, scoring 2.45B by the end of his second ball. Keith on Twister He increased this to 2.58B with his third ball, but Jim was chasing him for the win. He got agonisingly close to winning too, ending on 2.45B and second place. Raymond had 1.67B for third, but Zach’s run of bad luck continued, as he ended his game with just 160M. So going into the last game, Keith had 8 points, Raymond and Jim both had 5 points and so could only tie with Keith if they won and he came last, while Zach had yet to score. That last game of the final was played on Hoops. Zach began this time and put up a good first ball score of 1.6M. Keith played second and managed 874K, while Jim had a quick drain with just 86K on the board. Raymond in the player four seat scored 209K on his first ball. Ball two changed everything. While Zach could only add a few points to his score, Keith took control of the game and boosted his score to 6.1M. Raymond improved markedly to stand on 1.8M after his second ball, while Jim jumped up to 920K. Those positions held on ball three, with Keith in the lead on 7.7M, Raymond in second on 2.9M, Zach third on 2.3M and Jim fourth with his 1.57M. The other finalists congratulate Keith on his win Raymond’s second place in the last game was enough to give him second place overall, while Jim was third and Zach fourth. Keith receives his winner’s trophy from Bob Matthews and Karl DeAngelo The top four in the Modern A division: Zach Sharpe, Jim Belsito, Raymond Davidson and Keith Elwin With the awards presented, Arcade Expo 2016 was officially over. This was our first visit to the Museum of Pinball, and it’s clear that a lot of organisational effort had gone into making it such an enjoyable event for everyone. There was a large team of volunteers, from the game repairers to the car park supervisors to the door checkers to the registration desk workers. The team behind Arcade Expo 2016 If the opportunity to play 500 pinballs and a huge selection of video games all in one location wasn’t enough, the area outside enjoyed a festival atmosphere as food, drink and music was all being enjoyed in the winter sunshine and into the evening. We’d happily return next year, and it will come as no surprise to find out the team, under Museum owner John Weeks, are already making plans for an even bigger event in 2017. Good night from Arcade Expo In the meantime, you can find out more about the Museum of Pinball and keep up with their upcoming events at their website.