{"id":15420,"date":"2019-03-22T16:59:03","date_gmt":"2019-03-22T16:59:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pinballnews.com\/site\/?p=15420"},"modified":"2019-04-07T21:54:24","modified_gmt":"2019-04-07T20:54:24","slug":"texas-pinball-festival-2019-live","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pinballnews.com\/site\/2019\/03\/22\/texas-pinball-festival-2019-live\/","title":{"rendered":"TEXAS PINBALL FESTIVAL 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Texas Pinball Festival is back at the Embassy Suites in Frisco, and so are we.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The<\/a>
The venue for the Texas Pinball Festival 2019, the Embassy Suites in Frisco<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We arrived on Thursday afternoon – a day before the show opens – so we can bring you all the details from the set-up through to the tear down, and we will be updating this report frequently so we can bring you all the events as they happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"There<\/a>
There will be plenty of vehicles with licence plates similar to this at the hotel this weekend<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"Hanging<\/a>
Hanging banners for the show<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The TPF covers several rooms with the main hall being by far the largest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Show<\/a>
Show merchandise and clothing at the entry desk<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

On Thursday, set-up was progressing steadily on the show floor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Pinballs<\/a>
Pinballs waiting to be set up<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Machines are brought in through the rear loading doors, where a crew organises the unloading and directs owners to the appropriate staging point before games are taken to their spot in the hall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The staging area is even more important at the close of the show when everyone wants to load-up and get away as quickly as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The<\/a>
The unloading\/loading crew<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"The<\/a>
The staging areas<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"The<\/a>
The machine layout<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"The<\/a>
The layout of the vendor stands<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Inside the main hall there is one stand-out stall, and that’s Marco Specialties’ Munster’s<\/em> display.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Marco<\/a>
Marco Specialties’ stand<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Lots<\/a>
Lots of The Munsters machines<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

To go with The Munsters<\/em> pinball, there are two very special vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Dragula,<\/a>
Dragula, one of two The Munsters vehicles<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Dragula\"<\/a>
Dragula<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"The<\/a>
The Dragula car has been signed by Pat Priest who will also be at the show<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"The<\/a>
The Munster’s Koach<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"The<\/a>
The Munster’s Koach with Eddie Munster at the rear<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"The<\/a>
The Munsters Koach with The Munsters pinball<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Elsewhere in the hall, Kingpin Amusements are featuring games from multiple manufacturers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The<\/a>
The Kingpin stand during set-up<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Oktoberfest<\/a>
Oktoberfest and Houdini machines on the American Pinball stand<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The multiple tournaments held at the Texas Pinball Festival usually occupy an area at the front of the hall. This year, however, they have moved into a dedicated tournament room opposite the main hall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The<\/a>
The tournament room<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Setting<\/a>
Setting up the tournament machines<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Colin<\/a>
Colin dials-in a World Cup Soccer<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Seating<\/a>
Seating and standings<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Friday is the first day of the show with the doors opening to the public at 5pm. Before that though, there was plenty of activity in the main hall and outside, as more games and stands were set up<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"It<\/a>
It was quiet at the ticket office now, but later…?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Team<\/a>
Team Worldwide were standing by to ship any games traded over the weekend<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Inside, Suncoast Pinball were showing two examples of their upcoming Cosmic Carnival game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The<\/a>
The playfield from Cosmic Carnival by Suncoast Pinball<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The game was flipable and played a music track, but there were no rules or display effects on the backbox LCD other than one static screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The
The Cosmic Carnival backbox<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The game features artwork by Dirty Donny on the playfield, cabinet and backbox.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The<\/a>
The Cosmic Carnival cabinet art<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Backbox<\/a>
Backbox side art<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Further into the hall, Marco Specialties were making final preparations, as were other vendors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The<\/a>
The Marco Specialties stand<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Some<\/a>
Some vendors were more ready than others<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"American<\/a>
American Pinball were getting their games ready<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Jersey<\/a>
Jersey Jack Pinball were doing likewise<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Flip<\/a>
Flip N Out had both Oktoberfest and The Beatles on their stand<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Pinball<\/a>
Pinball Inc. had their parts set up, with their Kingpin project game about to arrive too<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"It's<\/a>
It’s hard to ignore some of the beautiful lighted mods at the show<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Ryan<\/a>
Ryan Claytor and Nick Baldridge were preparing to sell the first copies of their Coin-Op Carnival publication<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Although the show didn’t open until 5pm on Friday, at 3pm there was a special VIP meet-and-greet session with two of the show’s special guests – Pat Priest and Butch Patrick from The Munsters<\/em>, who were joined by members of the Stern Pinball design team from their The Munsters<\/em> pinball.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Stern team comprised John Borg, Dwight Sullivan, Jerry Thompson and Christopher Franchi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was a long line of VIP pass buyers waiting for their opportunity to meet the team and get their special commemorativeThe Munsters<\/em> poster signed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The<\/a>
The line for the meet-and-greet with Pat, Butch and the Stern team<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"The<\/a>
The signing table<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Pat<\/a>
Pat Priest and Butch Patrick signing posters<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Pat<\/a>
Pat Priest and Butch Patrick signing posters<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"A<\/a>
A signed commemorative poster with the happy owner<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Over in the tournaments room, things were getting busy as qualifying for the tournaments was in full swing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"In<\/a>
In the tournaments room<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Trophies<\/a>
Trophies and plaques for the various tournaments<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As the 5pm opening loomed, the lobby outside the main hall was packed with show guests anxious to get in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The<\/a>
The lobby outside the show hall just before 5pm on Friday<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There was also a long line of visitors waiting to buy or collect pre-purchased tickets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The<\/a>
The line for tickets<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

While they were waiting, there were vendors of hot food, snacks and drinks in the lobby, as well as food trucks outside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Pizzas<\/a>
Pizzas or chips n dips<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"More<\/a>
More unhealthy snacks<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Alcoholic<\/a>
Alcoholic drinks were available too<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Food
Food trucks were outside the venue for all three days<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"A
A BBQ food truck was there too<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Once the doors opened, it was only a matter of a few minutes before most of the machines were being played, while queues soon built up on the most popular new titles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Ed<\/a>
Ed Vanderveen reminds show guests to display their wristbands as the doors open<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Very<\/a>
Very quickly the crowd spread through the hall to occupy any vacant machines<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Charlie<\/a>
Charlie from Spooky Pinball points out some of the features of Alice Cooper’s Nightmare Castle<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"American<\/a>
American Pinball’s Oktoberfest games were in high demand<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Chicago<\/a>
Chicago Gaming had a large display of their remake titles<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"More
More games Attack from Mars and Monster Bash from Chicago Gaming<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Pretty
Pretty much every game was soon being enjoyed<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The seminar schedule began at 6pm, with Martin Ayub of Pinball News and Jonathan Joosten of Pinball Magazine hosting their popular So You Think You Know Pinball?<\/em> quiz in the hotel’s bar area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Jonathan<\/a>
Jonathan Joosten and Martin Ayub – picture by Jim Schelberg<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The quiz asked a series of questions with two possible answers. Contestants were asked to move to one side of the floor if they thought the first answer was correct or the opposite side if they thought the second answer was the right one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those who chose wisely stayed in, while those who were wrong sat down and waited for the next round. As soon as there were only a few contestants remaining they all got to pick prize tickets at random, with the tickets relating to one of the prizes on the long table of goodies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Martin and Jonathan presented numerous prizes kindly donated by American Pinball, Spooky Pinball, Jersey Jack Pinball, Stern Pinball, Multimorphic, Christopher Franchi, Suncoast Pinball, Pinball News and Pinball Magazine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Jonathan<\/a>
Jonathan and Martin with some of the prizes – picture by Jim Schelberg<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Then at 7pm the seminars moved to their dedicated room at the back of the main hall as Jersey Jack Pinball took to the stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jack Guarnieri was joined by John-Paul de Win, Butch Peel and Eric Meunier to talk about their latest games and answer questions from the audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Jack<\/a>
Jack Guarnieri of Jersey Jack Pinball<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"The<\/a>
The Jersey Jack Pinball team<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After Jack introduced the team members, Eric spoke about his experiences designing his first game – Pirates of the Caribbean<\/em> – for the company.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Eric<\/a>
Eric Meunier<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Jack then turned to The Wizard of Oz<\/em> and said it was still his favourite game because it held such a special place in his and the company’s history. He then unveiled the new Yellow Brick Road Limited Edition model.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Unveiling<\/a>
Unveiling the Yellow Brick Road Limited Edition of The Wizard of Oz<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"The<\/a>
The Yellow Brick Road Limited Edition version of The Wizard of Oz<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The Yellow Brick Road Limited Edition of The Wizard of Oz<\/em> is only available through distributors and is, Jack said, designed for those who haven’t bought a The Wizard of Oz<\/em> yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cost is $11,500 which includes art blades, yellow sparkle powder-coating on all armour, wireforms and on the apron and the playfield itself.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The<\/a>
The Yellow Brick Road Limited Edition playfield<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"Yellow<\/a>
Yellow sparkle powder-coating<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Yellow<\/a>
Yellow sparkle powder-coating on the wireforms<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"The<\/a>
The YBRLE marking on the backglass<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Only 200 games are planned to be made this year, while the total could be up to 500.  Jack said he had renewed the The Wizard of Oz<\/em> licence for another couple of years, and done the same with Pirates of the Caribbean<\/em> too although there are no current plans to build more of that model.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JP spoke about the new artwork, how they were able to use more characters and add the interior art blades.  The Wizard of Oz: Yellow Brick Road Limited Edition<\/em> is in production now and shipping next week.  Jack said from now on he doesn’t want to announce any games until they are available to buy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jean-Paul de Win then talked about how he came to work for Jack, and then played a showreel of his pinball work which is also viewable on his website<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Jean-Paul<\/a>
Jean-Paul de Win<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

He also showed the design progression of the graphical interface for
The Wizard of Oz<\/em>, explaining how the scores, objectives and progress so far are conveyed to the player.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Questions were then taken from the audience about the differences between The Wizard of Oz: Yellow Brick Road Limited Edition<\/em> and the Emerald City Limited Edition.<\/em> The new model has Radcals for cabinet artwork instead of direct printing and has the new boardset and cabinet design as used on Dialed In!<\/em> and Pirates of the Caribbean<\/em>.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Butch<\/a>
Butch Peel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The company redesigned a few of the playfield mechanisms to make them more reliable and easier to service but the new model doesn’t have winged monkey mech due to reliability issues. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jersey Jack Pinball’s seminar<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The next seminar began at 8pm and featured Ryan Claytor and Nick Baldridge who were speaking about the creation of the new Coin-Op Carnival<\/em> publication.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They were joined on the stage by pinball historian Gordon Hasse who spoke about the history of coin-operated machine publications, from the 1920 through to the present day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Gordon<\/a>
Gordon Hasse, Nick Baldridge and Ryan Claytor<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Gordon<\/a>
Gordon explained how Coin-Op Carnival follows in a grand tradition of amusement machine publishing<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Gordon spoke about – and showed examples of – coin-op publications through the decades, including titles such as Automatic Age<\/em> which ran from 1925-1945, Automatic World<\/em> which was published in the ’30s.  He also featured Billboard<\/em> from the 1950s, Marketplace<\/em> in the ’60s, continuing on to Playmeter<\/em>, Replay<\/em> and many more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He then turned to more pinball-focused publications, including hobby and pinball association magazines of which there have been many, including numerous short-lived titles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ryan then introduced himself and the Coin-Op Carnival<\/em> publication he has created with Nick Baldridge.  Ryan is a comic artist, university lecturer, pinball fan, and has worked on a number of pinball plastic reproductions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Ryan<\/a>
Ryan Claytor<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Nick introduced himself.  Nick runs the For Amusement Only<\/em> pinball podcast of which there are more than 400 episodes.  He also created the Multi-Bingo<\/em> game which combines the gameplay of more than 100 different bingo games into one cabinet. The game is playable on the pair’s stand in the main hall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Nick<\/a>
Nick Baldridge<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Ryan explained how the two of them met and how Nick helped Ryan rebuild his Swinger <\/em>EM pinball. They and their families became friends, taking vacations together which is where they came up with the idea of Coin-Op Carnival.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nick talked about the common categories of content in each issue of the intended four-issue run, before Ryan showed pages from the publication and talked about the Papercraft models included in each issue, allowing buyers to build 7%-scale models of the games featured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The duo then covered the production process, from the interview with the game designer – Wayne Neyens in the first issue – to the drawing and colouring of the cartoons which illustrate the interview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They closed by discussing their two-yearly release schedule, saying they felt the two years between issues is a realistic timescale given their other lives, careers and other coin-op commitments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gordon Hasse, Nick Baldridge and Ryan Claytor’s seminar<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Friday’s final seminar was at 9pm and was hosted by Stern Pinball duo Steve Ritchie and Mike Vinikour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Mike<\/a>
Mike Vinikour and Steve Ritchie<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Steve welcomed everyone to the seminar before introducing Mike Vinikour who described his history in pinball and his current role at Stern Pinball.  Mike said he has known Steve for 25 years, first when they worked together at Williams, and now at Stern.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Mike<\/a>
Mike Vinikour<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Steve denied rumours that he is retiring – he loves his job, he said, and loves working with his crew at Stern.  He said his team now is just as capable as they ever were at Williams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Steve<\/a>
Steve Ritchie<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Steve said he couldn’t talk about his next game, other than to say it will have six balls, will be made in three models, and will have two or more flippers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Steve related how he got into the pinball business at Atari where he was working in the video game division.  He said it’s been a great business, and pinball is continuing to expand with more leagues, tournaments and shows.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mike related how he got into pinball as well, from spending all his time as a kid at an arcade where he always played pinball to some extent, even during the video game boom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the question-and-answer session, Steve spoke about how is it different designing games now compared to his time at Williams. He said it is more difficult in some ways, with more models of each title to make and more decisions now that there are so many options in different devices, RGB LEDs, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asked what his favourite feature or shot was on any of his game designs, Steve cited the innovation of Lane Change which first appeared on Firepower<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Steve also told the audience how he usually makes two whitewoods of each game.  Mike also advised that there is no timescale on when Stern games will have the online connectivity announced by George Gomez, although it is coming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asked what he did between leaving Williams after No Fear<\/em> and his joining Stern Pinball, Steve said he saw the writing on the wall at Williams when they were concentrating on slots.  He joined Atari video games to work on racing games.  Steve called Gary and asked if they had a place for him at Stern and Gary said “Yes”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, Steve confirmed that both Star Trek and Game of Thrones were intended to have LCD screens when they were first designed, but the technology and skillsets were not there yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mike Vinikour and Steve Ritchie’s seminar<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Before the seminars began on Saturday, there was the regular swap meet organised by the DFW Pinball and Arcade Club<\/a>. As usual, this was held in the parking lot at the back of the Convention Center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The<\/a>
The rain held off (just) for the swap meet<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Some<\/a>
Some of the items for sale at the swap meet<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Anyone could turn up, unload their car or truck, and start selling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Collections<\/a>
Collections could be large or small<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"Items<\/a>
Items ranged from whole machines…<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"...to<\/a>
…to small parts collections<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"As<\/a>
As the morning wore on, the crowds increased in number<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Free<\/a>
Free donuts and coffee might have been something to do with that<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Saturday’s seminars began at 1pm as Damian Hartin of Haggis Pinball talks about the company and the creation of their first two game, one of which – Celts – was showing in prototype form on their stand in the main hall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Damian<\/a>
Damian Hartin from Haggis Pinball<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Damian was interviewed by Martin Robbins from the Head2Head pinball podcast and started by asking why Damian and business partner, Blair Gowans, had decided to make pinball machines. The name ‘Haggis’ is a combination of his and Blair’s surnames. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said he liked a challenge and got to that point in life and his level of interest in pinball where it seems like a good idea, although he thought it would be easier than it turned out to be. He has been documenting the progress on Facebook with videos on his YouTube channel which proved to be a motivator in making sure they hit certain milestones. Documenting everything has brought amazing support, feedback and encouragement from the pinball community, he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Haggis Pinball’s first game was called Wraith<\/em>. It was originally called Ghost<\/em>, and was going to be a single-level playfield which would take six months to complete, but soon developed into something more which would not be ready for this year’s show. They do plan to have Wraith <\/em>at the 2020 Texas Pinball Festival though.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Celts <\/em>is a new game which they built in eight weeks once they decided not to bring Wraith <\/em>to the show. They were determined to bring a<\/em> machine, having already made that commitment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Damian said he thought the Celts<\/em> title would immediately suggest a number of ideas and characters. He said he has cut almost 30 different whitewoods in developing the layout. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Damian<\/a>
Damian was interviewed by Martin from Head2Head<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Having built the prototype in Australia, he disassembled it, put the parts in boxes, travelled from Australia to Dallas, got the use of an old Bally Star Trek<\/em> cabinet, and rebuilt the game starting on Wednesday night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said the hardest part of the game design and build is the geometry – how to build ball guides so the ball smoothly goes where he wants it to go without any sharp angles or bumps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When looking for an electronics system, he discovered P-ROC and has been using this along with the Mission Pinball framework which provides the basic functions to detect switches, fire solenoids and define rules and scoring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Damian he would be happy to build production machines himself while the numbers are manageable, and would have a build-to-order system. He thought it would take approximately a week to build each machine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Haggis Pinball’s seminar<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The second seminar of Saturday was by Gerry Stellenberg from Multimorphic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Gerry<\/a>
Gerry Stellenberg<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Gerry began by asking the audience how much innovation there has been in pinball over the past few decades. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After asking them to name any innovations he concluded nothing much has changed since the 1990s, saying this is due to prices going up and people still buying them in ever greater numbers, giving no incentive to change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said it has become a battle to get the most popular theme, and that games don’t need to be fun to play any more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Multimorphic, he said, is innovating; firstly with their technologies of P-ROC\/P3-ROC, software frameworks, online forums, and then with the P3<\/sup> Pinball Platform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gerry explained the innovative features found in the P3<\/sup> – dynamic & interactive playfield artwork, a rapid-fire multi-position ball trough, a multi-purpose set of walls & scoops, nudge detection which can be integrated into gameplay, modular swappable upper playfields, magnetic artwork, online player profiles, and a new optional backbox display.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Gerry<\/a>
Gerry with the P3 pinball platform running the Hoopin’ It Up! game<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Gerry then demonstrated the Hoopin’ It Up!<\/em> free game which is automatically available to all existing P3<\/sup> owners with the Lexy Lightspeed<\/em> upper playfield.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, Gerry talked about the status of the company – how they have fulfilled all pre-orders and are now building games to order. They moved to new production facility<\/a> in Round Rock where they are ramping up their game assembly capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gerry Stellenberg’s seminar<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The next seminar brought onto the stage four members of the Stern Pinball team to talk about the making of their The Munsters<\/em> game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Dwight<\/a>
Dwight Sullivan, Christopher Franchi, Jerry Thompson and John Borg<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The team introduced themselves by showing a slideshow of pictures, starting with John’s desk with all the Munsters episodes on DVD so he could shotlist it and make notes of the timings of useful clips. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"John<\/a>
John Borg<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Chris showed a montage of images featuring his pinball artwork from various different games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Christopher<\/a>
Christopher Franchi<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Jerry then did the same with a shot of his first new-in-box machine, The Simpsons Pinball Party<\/em>, and pictures with Adam West, Steve Kordek, Norm Clarke, Ed Robertson and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Jerry<\/a>
Jerry Thompson<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Dwight also had a similar montage which was followed by another from Greg Freres.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Dwight<\/a>

Dwight Sullivan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The team revealed how Michael Airington is one of the voice actors in the game, while Gale Van Cott does the voice of Marilyn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

John then showed pictures of the Raven molding which will appear on the game’s topper. John got to voice the Raven. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A couple of montages then followed, showing John along with the whole team working on his first game, Star Wars<\/em> in 1992, leading to later pictures with Dirty Donny and Dave Christensen, as well as pictures from the Stern Pinball factory and assorted pinball shows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

John then talked through a series of pictures showing how the The Munsters<\/em> game changed from the initial playfield and mech design through to the production version, along with John’s initial ideas for features and artwork, and how they ended up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"John<\/a>
John talks about how the game changed from the initial concept<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Development
Development of the Herman model<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Questions from the audience then followed, which included:<\/p>\n\n\n\n