{"id":26139,"date":"2022-11-01T10:25:00","date_gmt":"2022-11-01T10:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pinballnews.com\/site\/?p=26139"},"modified":"2022-11-01T18:15:07","modified_gmt":"2022-11-01T18:15:07","slug":"pinball-expo-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pinballnews.com\/site\/2022\/11\/01\/pinball-expo-2022\/","title":{"rendered":"PINBALL EXPO 2022"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

After two years of forced absence, we are back at Pinball Expo<\/a> at its new home at the Schaumburg Convention Center<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"The<\/a>
The Schaumburg Convention Center<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The Convention Centre is attached to the more prominent Renaissance hotel<\/a>, which has a discounted room rate for Expo attendees and is therefore where most guests will be staying.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"The<\/a>
The Renaissance Schaumburg hotel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

This is our first time attending Pinball Expo in Schaumburg. The show moved there in 2021 after the virtual Pinball Expo of 2020, but regrettably many visitors from outside North America weren’t permitted to enter the US in time for the 2021 show.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, it’s all new to us, and probably to you too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Renaissance is a high-grade business hotel, with several small lakes and fountains in the grounds.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"The<\/a>
The grounds of the Renaissance<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

There is plenty of free car parking but, unlike the previous home of the Westin in Wheeling<\/a> (another Marriott property), there are no restaurants, bars or shops just a short walk away. In fact the nearest eatery is 0.8 miles from the front of the Renaissance, although they do offer a free shuttle bus to any location within a three-mile radius.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

WEDNESDAY<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pinball Expo is held in two of the three main Convention Centre halls, with seminars and tournaments located in adjoining rooms. These halls, like all the rooms at the Convention Center, have rather silly names, such as ‘Utopia’, ‘Nirvana’, ‘Prosperity’ and ‘Perfection’.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We arrived at midday on Wednesday to check on progress setting up the show in ‘Adventure’ and ‘Discovery’ ahead of the public opening at midday on Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Some<\/a>
Some of the pinballs already set up in the main hall<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The show’s new home allows vehicles to drive onto the floor of the Convention Center so that they can unload more easily (and load up again after the show closes on Sunday).<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Some<\/a>
Some of the vehicles on the show floor<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Stern Pinball had many of their pinballs set up, including multiple examples of the new 007 James Bond<\/em> Pro and Premium models.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Some<\/a>
Some of the Stern Pinball machines on their display<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

We had the opportunity to play the Premium model on the floor. Compared to the version of software we experienced in London, so obvious extra graphics, sounds and music had been added, but there didn’t seem to be any new modes or features yet. The display still warns players that these are development machines where some of the assets may be incomplete or unlicensed.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"More<\/a>
More of the Stern Pinball machines on their display<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Elsewhere at Pinball Expo, Pinball Brothers were unboxing their new Queen <\/em>pinball, but wanted to set it up in private before showing it to a wider audience. They plan to have two machines when the show opens on Thursday, with another being added soon after.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"The<\/a>
The Pinball Brothers stand where Queen was being set up<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Jersey Jack Pinball were in the process of building their stand, with the emphasis on their current Toy Story 4<\/em> model.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"The<\/a>
The Jersey Jack Pinball stand<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Rumours suggest Chicago Gaming might be revealing their first non-remake title at Pinball Expo, although they were vehemently denying it during set-up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a change from last year, the free play pinballs will sit alongside the vendor stands in the main hall. Around 400 free play games are expected, with some being set up during our visit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Some<\/a>
Some of the free play machines in the main hall<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

As usual, Pinball Expo Organiser, Rob Berk, brought many of his own games.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Some<\/a>
Some of Rob Berk’s personal machines<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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\"Three<\/a>
Three of the many homebrew games expected at Expo this year<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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\"More<\/a>
More free play games, while Great American Pinball will be showcasing their custom reworked titles<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

As usual, we’ll be bringing you full details of all the vendors and free play machines at this year’s Pinball Expo as we update this report over the course of the weekend and beyond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, no major pinball show would be complete without a bunch of tournaments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trent Augenstein’s Tilt Amusements had supplied a hugely impressive line-up of the newest Stern Pinball titles for the show’s competitive events.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Inside<\/a>
Inside the Tournaments Room during set-up<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Not all of Pinball Expo takes place at the Schaumburg Convention Center however. In fact, events kick-off on Wednesday night with the familiar Bumper Blast welcome part which is being held at the nearby Enterrium barcade. Several additional pinballs have been brought in to supplement the already-impressive collection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Bumper Blast runs from 7pm until 10pm, and Pinball News will be there to bring you all the details.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Free<\/a>
Free shuttle buses take Pinball Expo guests to Enterrium for the Bumper blast party<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Thursday’s Pinball Expo action also begins off-site, as the brand-new Jersey Jack Pinball factory tour takes guests on a coach ride to Elk Grove Village to see for themselves how the company builds their popular titles.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Flippy<\/a>
Flippy helps guide Pinball Expo guests<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

When guests return, the popular seminars schedule begins. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pinball News plans to record every one of them across Thursday, Friday and Saturday. We hope to bring you videos of them on our YouTube channel<\/a>, with each day’s seminars published overnight. Summaries of every seminar will also be added to this report, with the corresponding video added as soon as possible. We also plan to bring you audio recordings of the seminars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wednesday night’s Bumper Blast event was held at the nearby Enterrium amusements entertainment centre. School buses took Expo guests the two miles to Enterrium’s entrance as part of the Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Enterrium<\/a>
Enterrium in Schaumburg<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Guests were welcomed by the new Pinball Expo mascot, Flippy.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Flippy<\/a>
Flippy says, “Welcome”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

On arrival, most guests joined a queue to get some free food from heated trays set up in an adjoining room.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"The<\/a>
The queue for the food<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

As they were waiting in line, Expo guests were given special Enterrium play cards which allowed unlimited play for three hours, although there were some limits on how many times you could play the same game to prevent hogging.<\/p>\n\n\n

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

There were five pinballs set up in a dedicated area next to the dinner line.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"The<\/a>
The five pinballs – four Legends of Valhalla and a 007 James Bond<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

There were many more pinballs, but they were reserved for the tournaments being held on the opposite side of the room.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Some<\/a>
Some of the tournament pinballs<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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\"More<\/a>
More pinballs in the tournament area<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The arcade and redemption machines in Enterrium could be played until the end of the Bumper Blast at 10pm. Enterrium was supposed to close then, but the tournament ran longer and many guests remained behind, with the last ones leaving around 1am.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Standings<\/a>
Standings in the tournament<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

For those who left on time, the school buses returned and set off for the Expo hotel around 10:10pm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On arrival, we began setting up our equipment in preparation for the next morning’s seminars which began at 10am.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

THURSDAY<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first full day of Pinball Expo began on Thursday morning. In past times this would have meant the return of the school buses for a guided tour of the Stern Pinball factory. Thing were changed this year with the first ever Expo tour of the Jersey Jack Pinball factory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rather than everyone arriving leaving at once, tours were arranged in time slots throughout the morning, with those who registered in-person for the tour on Thursday morning being allocated the next available slot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because we were busy setting up the recording equipment for the seminars we were not able to go on the JJP factory tour. However, Pinball Magazine Editor, Jonathan Joosten, did manage to take the tour and took the pictures you see below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, Pinball News visited the Jersey Jack Pinball factory two days earlier, and we will be adding pictures from that tour to this report too.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"The<\/a>
The line to take the next Jersey Jack Pinball factory tour<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Along with the change of tour, the transportation had received an upgrade.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"A<\/a>
A luxury coach replaced the previous school buses<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Although the destination was also new, some visitors would have found the journey somewhat familiar since the JJP factory is on the next street over from the Stern Pinball factory.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"The<\/a>
The destination: the Jersey Jack Pinball factory in Elk Grove Village<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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\"Tour<\/a>
Tour guests entered the building at the side of the building<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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\"Inside<\/a>
Inside the building, guests were welcomed by the company’s Marketing & Communications Specialist, Ken Cromwell<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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\"There<\/a>
There were several tour guides, one of whom took each group around the factory<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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\"One<\/a>
One of the two production lines was shut down for the tour to allow the groups to move through the factory safely<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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\"Partially<\/a>
Partially completed playfields were displayed on the line so guests could see the construction process<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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\"The<\/a>
The view down the production line<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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\"Guests<\/a>
Guests also got to meet Steve Ritchie, Mark Seiden and Jack Guarnieri<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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\"Signed<\/a>
Signed flyers of the recent Replay magazine front cover featuring JJP were also available<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

There was also a competition to guess the number of lines of code in one of the company’s recent titles. Guests could submit their guess on a Post-It note, with the closest to the real number winning a prize.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Guess<\/a>
Guess the number of lines of code<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Although the tours were still taking place, the extensive schedule of seminar talks began at 10am on Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"The
The seminars were held upstairs in Nirvana Ballrooms A & B<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Pinball News was frantically working away back at the Convention Center so we could record all 25.7 hours of them for you to enjoy. You can play them all below or visit our YouTube channel for the Pinball Expo playlist<\/a> of 35 videos, including tours of the main show hall and also the autograph session held on Saturday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

10:00am<\/strong><\/td>What to Expect When Buying a Pinball Machine – Troy Smith<\/strong><\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n
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\"Troy<\/a>
Troy Smith<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Troy is the Director of Sales and Marketing at Tilt Amusements, one of the most popular distributors for Stern Pinball’s titles. In his seminar he talked about the pros and cons of buying new or used games, as well as comparing the service, backup and prices when you buy a game from a distributor or from a private sale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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