{"id":12960,"date":"2018-08-24T18:29:28","date_gmt":"2018-08-24T17:29:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pinballnews.com\/site\/?p=12960"},"modified":"2022-08-24T12:23:55","modified_gmt":"2022-08-24T11:23:55","slug":"uk-pinfest-2018-live","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pinballnews.com\/site\/2018\/08\/24\/uk-pinfest-2018-live\/","title":{"rendered":"UK PINFEST 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

We’re here at the Mercure Daventry Court Hotel in the town of Daventry near Northampton in the English Midlands for the very first UK Pinfest show.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"The<\/a>
The Mercure Daventry Court Hotel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Regular readers may recognise this hotel from some of our previous reports, and that’s because the Mercure used to be home of the UK Pinball Party when Andrew Heighway organised it from 2010 until 2014.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After two years without a national show, Phillip Murphy stepped up with his UK Pinfest show, returning to Daventry to host it.  Now taken over by Mercure, the hotel has had an interior facelift in the lobby and some of the rooms, but the main exhibit hall is pretty much unchanged.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"The<\/a>
The hotel’s lobby<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"The<\/a>
The bar – expected home of several late nights<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"The<\/a>
The corridor to the main exhibit hall<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Friday<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we arrived, setting up of machines was in full flow.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Inside<\/a>
Inside the main hall<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"Setting<\/a>
Setting up a Black Knight<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"Preparing<\/a>
Preparing a Tecnoplay X Force<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Live streaming is set to be a big feature this weekend, with several rigs poised to broadcast games.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"One<\/a>
One of the streaming rigs on a The Shadow machine<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Further into the hall, two banks of tournament machines are set up for the UK Pinball Open and UK Pinball Classic tournaments which begin at 10am on Saturday.  Further machines were going to be added to both banks later on Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"The<\/a>
The UK Pinball Open machines<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"The<\/a>
The UK Pinball Classic machines<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

At the back of the hall, a row of machines featured the latest titles from several manufacturers, including Homepin, Team Pinball, American Pinball, Jersey Jack Pinball and Stern Pinball.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Players<\/a>
Players get a sneaky game on Thunderbirds<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"Lots<\/a>
Lots of the latest games<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Elsewhere in the hall, more machines were either ready for the opening or getting there.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"More<\/a>
More machines ready to go<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"Getting<\/a>
Getting a final adjustment<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

There are a few stands around the outer edges of the hall.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Jim<\/a>
Jim Askey’s stand with a custom Indiana Jones machine<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"The<\/a>
The Scottish Pinball Association are represented<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"The<\/a>
The Northern Lights Pinball crew are here too<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Although most machines are turned off until the start of the VIP session at 7pm on Friday, a few were powered up during the set-up period.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Most<\/a>
Most machines are off, but not all<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"Setting<\/a>
Setting up even more machines<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Then at 7pm the doors were opened to the VIP ticket-holders. Tickets for the two days, this VIP session and Saturday evening’s session could be purchased for \u00a345.  Non-VIP tickets for the weekend were \u00a330, while daily tickets cost \u00a318 each.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"The<\/a>
The VIP session on Friday evening<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"There<\/a>
There is a second VIP session on Saturday night<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Saturday<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The show opened to the public at 10:30am, but the first round of qualifying for the UK Pinball Open and Classic tournaments were both scheduled for 10am, so tournament players could enter the main hall and sign-in earlier, as could machine owners looking to set-up, clean or fix their games.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"The<\/a>
The aisle from the entrance to the tournament desk<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"The<\/a>
The Pinnovating team setting up Kill Bill, The Matrix and Demolition Man on Steroids<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"Cleaning<\/a>
Cleaning the tournament machines<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"Trophies<\/a>
Trophies for the Open, Classics and Apprentice Wizard tournaments<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Tournament qualifying was split into two sessions – 10am and 2pm.  Those scheduled for 10am needed to sign-in and collect their player badges.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Tournament<\/a>
Tournament players getting their badges and score cards<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"Tournament<\/a>
Tournament director Peter Blakemore with the name badges<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"Meanwhile,<\/a>
Meanwhile, more machines were arriving and being set up<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

By the end, there were 81 free-play pinballs plus 24 tournament and 6League machines (which were mostly also available for the public to play when not being used in the tournaments) for a total of 111 pinballs.  Here’s the list:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Free Play Pinballs<\/strong><\/td> <\/td> <\/td><\/tr>
AC\/DC (Luci)<\/td> <\/td>Matrix, The<\/td><\/tr>
Addams Family, The<\/td> <\/td>Medieval Madness<\/td><\/tr>
Aerobatics<\/td> <\/td>Metalllica (Pro)<\/td><\/tr>
Avatar<\/td> <\/td>Monster Bash<\/td><\/tr>
Batman (DE)<\/td> <\/td>Mousin’ Around<\/td><\/tr>
Batman 66<\/td> <\/td>Mr & Mrs Pac-Man<\/td><\/tr>
Black Knight 2000<\/td> <\/td>Nautilus<\/td><\/tr>
Black Knight*<\/td> <\/td>NBA Fastbreak<\/td><\/tr>
Black Rose<\/td> <\/td>NBA Fastbreak<\/td><\/tr>
Black Rose*<\/td> <\/td>NBA Fastbreak<\/td><\/tr>
Bride of Pinbot: The Machine<\/td> <\/td>No Fear<\/td><\/tr>
Bride of Pinbot: The Machine<\/td> <\/td>Pirates of the Caribbean (JJP)<\/td><\/tr>
Bride of Pinbot: The Machine<\/td> <\/td>Pirates of the Caribbean (Stern)<\/td><\/tr>
Circus<\/td> <\/td>Queen’s Castle<\/td><\/tr>
Creature from the Black Lagoon<\/td> <\/td>Revenge from Mars<\/td><\/tr>
Demolition Man on Steroids<\/td> <\/td>RoboCop<\/td><\/tr>
Dialed In!<\/td> <\/td>Rocket III<\/td><\/tr>
Dracula, Bram Stoker’s<\/td> <\/td>Rocky<\/td><\/tr>
Dracula, Bram Stoker’s*<\/td> <\/td>Scared Stiff<\/td><\/tr>
Earth Wind & Fire<\/td> <\/td>Scared Stiff<\/td><\/tr>
Fish Tales<\/td> <\/td>Shadow, The<\/td><\/tr>
Flash*<\/td> <\/td>Shadow, The<\/td><\/tr>
Game of Thrones (Pro)<\/td> <\/td>Shrek<\/td><\/tr>
Getaway, The: High Speed 2*<\/td> <\/td>Ski Jump<\/td><\/tr>
Gold Ball<\/td> <\/td>Sopranos, The<\/td><\/tr>
Gold Ball<\/td> <\/td>South Park<\/td><\/tr>
Guardians of the Galaxy (Pro)<\/td> <\/td>Spectrum<\/td><\/tr>
Hook<\/td> <\/td>Spider-Man (Pro)<\/td><\/tr>
Houdini<\/td> <\/td>Star Trek (Pro)<\/td><\/tr>
Indiana Jones (Stern)<\/td> <\/td>Star Wars (DE)<\/td><\/tr>
Iron Maiden (Premium)<\/td> <\/td>Star Wars (Pro)<\/td><\/tr>
Iron Maiden (Pro)<\/td> <\/td>Stargate<\/td><\/tr>
Iron Maiden (Pro)<\/td> <\/td>Tales of the Arabian Nights<\/td><\/tr>
Jokerz!<\/td> <\/td>Thunderbirds<\/td><\/tr>
Junkyard<\/td> <\/td>Tron<\/td><\/tr>
Jurassic Park<\/td> <\/td>Twilight Zone<\/td><\/tr>
Kill Bill<\/td> <\/td>Wizard!<\/td><\/tr>
Lethal Weapon 3<\/td> <\/td>World Poker Tour<\/td><\/tr>
Lord of the Rings, The<\/td> <\/td>X Force<\/td><\/tr>
Mafia, The<\/td> <\/td>X-Files, The<\/td><\/tr>
Magic Castle<\/td> <\/td> <\/td><\/tr>
 <\/td> <\/td> <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And here are the tournament machines:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UK Pinball Open Pinballs
<\/strong><\/td>		 <\/td>UK Pinball Classic Pinballs<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Avatar<\/td> <\/td>Back to the Future<\/td><\/tr>
Getaway, The: High Speed 2<\/td> <\/td>Dark Shadow*<\/td><\/tr>
Junkyard<\/td> <\/td>Fathom<\/td><\/tr>
Medieval Madness<\/td> <\/td>Firepower<\/td><\/tr>
Monster Bash<\/td> <\/td>Gold Wings<\/td><\/tr>
Pinball Magic<\/td> <\/td>Gorgar<\/td><\/tr>
Scared Stiff<\/td> <\/td>Pink Panther<\/td><\/tr>
Terminator 2: Judgement Day<\/td> <\/td>Road Kings<\/td><\/tr>
Total Nuclear Annihilation<\/td> <\/td>Seawitch<\/td><\/tr>
Tron<\/td> <\/td>Space Hawks<\/td><\/tr>
Walking Dead, The<\/td> <\/td>Space Invaders<\/td><\/tr>
Whitewater<\/td> <\/td>Spider-Man, The Amazing<\/td><\/tr>
 <\/td> <\/td> <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And these are the League final machines:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UK Pinball League Pinballs
<\/strong><\/td>		 <\/td> <\/td><\/tr>
Addams Family, The<\/td> <\/td>Flintstones, The<\/td><\/tr>
Batman: The Dark Knight<\/td> <\/td>Game of Thrones (Pro)<\/td><\/tr>
Creature from the Black Lagoon*<\/td> <\/td>Twilight Zone<\/td><\/tr>
 <\/td> <\/td> <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

At 10:30am the doors were opened to paying guests and it wasn’t long before most machines were occupied.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Another<\/a>
Another guest gets their wristband<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"UK<\/a>
UK Pinfest organiser, Philip Murphy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"Free<\/a>
Free play machines in the front, tournament machines behind<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"The<\/a>
The row of free play machines in front of the stage<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

After a little confusion over score cards, the first tournament games began using twelve modern machines for the Open and twelve solid-state titles for the Classic.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Playing<\/a>
Playing in the UK Pinball Open<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"UK<\/a>
UK Pinball Classic matches<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Both tournaments followed the same format.  Players were divided into eight groups of ten or eleven, and played a single three-ball game against every other member of their group.  When all the games were over, the top four players from each group progressed to the knockout stages to be held on Sunday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Away from the competitive environment, there were plenty of interesting titles to pay in the hall.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Three<\/a>
Three Zaccaria EMs in this row – Queen’s Castle, Circus and Nautilus<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"More<\/a>
More modern titles<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"The<\/a>
The three Pinnovating titles were up and running<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"The<\/a>
The new Kill Bill machine – a converted World Cup Soccer<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"The<\/a>
The new arrivals set up and being enjoyed<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Although there is a bar in the hotel’s lobby, there is also one in the main hall, letting people enjoy a drink with their game.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"The<\/a>
The main hall’s bar<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The bar wasn’t the only place for visitors to spend their money.  1 Stop Pinball has a good selection of common and game-specific parts on their stand.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"1<\/a>
1 Stop Pinball’s stand<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"Jim<\/a>
Jim Askey was showing his work on Indiana Jones and other games<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"Northern<\/a>
Northern Lights Pinball were raising money for charity and looking after the keys and machine repairs<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"They<\/a>
They also brought along their pair of linked NBA Fastbreak machines<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Here’s a further look around the show, the people and the machines at UK Pinfest 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Playing<\/a>
Playing the free play machines<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"Enjoying<\/a>
Enjoying the latest titles from six different manufacturers<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"The<\/a>
The Team Pinball team with their new The Mafia game<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"Speaking<\/a>
Speaking of new releases, Jonathan Joosten was at the show with a preview copy of Pinball Magazine issue 5<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"This<\/a>
This Nautilus game had clear windows to show the workings of the electromechanical system<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

At 2pm the first of the show’s three seminars too place in a small room just off the hotel’s lobby.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"The<\/a>
The seminars room<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The first talk was by Team Pinball who were telling the audience about the making of their The Mafia<\/em> game.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Team<\/a>
Team Pinball – Janos Kiss, Ot\u00edlia Pasar\u00e9ti and Romain Fontaine<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The team began by introducing themselves before describing how Team Pinball was established in 2016 and the timeline for the development of their The Mafia<\/em> game, from the ten iterations of paper drawing, through computer simulation to the first prototype, the second prototype (which they had in the room) and the production models.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Romain explained how the game’s electronics were designed using commonly-available discrete components and through-hole devices for easy repair, just as the playfield uses standard Williams\/Bally components for the common mechanisms and components.  He also described the six-week process for getting FCC and CE certification so they could sell the game in the US and Europe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The team showed the process of backbox and cabinet decal application, along with the combining of the backbox, cabinet and playfield to produce a complete game.  Although they made the first ten games themselves with help from family members, they plan to get extra help to build the next run.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Show<\/a>
Show organiser Phil with Team Pinball after their seminar<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

You can hear the Team Pinball seminar at UK Pinfest below or by clicking here<\/a>.  It was also streamed live by Domino Pinball and you can watch it below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

<\/p><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n