{"id":33911,"date":"2024-10-15T15:18:00","date_gmt":"2024-10-15T14:18:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pinballnews.com\/site\/?p=33911"},"modified":"2024-10-30T10:34:23","modified_gmt":"2024-10-30T10:34:23","slug":"pinball-expo-2024-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pinballnews.com\/site\/2024\/10\/15\/pinball-expo-2024-2\/","title":{"rendered":"PINBALL EXPO 2024 – PART ONE"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Welcome to our coverage of this 40th anniversary Pinball Expo<\/a> being held at the Schaumburg Convention Center<\/a> in the city of Schaumburg, about 25 miles north-west from the centre of Chicago.<\/p>\n\n\n

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

The Convention Center is joined to the neighbouring Renaissance Hotel which is the official Pinball Expo hotel, even having Expo-branded room keys for attendees.<\/p>\n\n\n

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

This year’s show promised to be the largest ever. It’s certainly the longest ever, with events starting in the morning of the Tuesday<\/a>. There were four organised pinball factory tours taking place, starting with Chicago Gaming<\/a> on Tuesday, American Pinball<\/a> on Wednesday, Jersey Jack Pinball<\/a> on Thursday and Stern Pinball<\/a> on Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first two of these were combined with visits to famous video and pinball arcades in the greater Chicagoland area. After the being shown around Chicago Gaming in Cicero on Tuesday, Pinball Expo attendees headed over to Brookfield for a tour of the Galloping Ghost Arcade<\/a>. Wednesday’s American Pinball tour was preceded by a trip to Logan Arcade<\/a> near Logan Square in downtown Chicago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The main show hall had been enlarged this year, with 100,000 square feet for the vendor hall, a new free play area in the room previously occupied by the tournaments, and a new tournaments area in a section of the Main Ballroom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

We arrived on Monday evening when the main hall was almost empty, except for some desks and merchandise for the registration area.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"The<\/a>
The registration desks at the entrance to the main show hall<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"The<\/a>
The view of the main show hall on Monday evening<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Pinball Expo is famed for its extensive schedule of seminars and this year that element had been enhanced and expanded for the fortieth show with three full days of talks and a second seminars room. That means, on Thursday and Saturday at least, there would be seminars in both rooms at the same time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pinball News has video recordings of the talks from the main seminars room (Nirvana A&B) thanks to the valuable assistance of Pinball Magazine<\/a>. We didn’t have the resources to cover the second, smaller seminars room (Nirvana C) next door, but hope to be able to bring you some audio recordings of those. There were several brand new systems for the audio and video in both rooms, which resulted in quite a few unknowns about how it would all work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Video recording of the seminars as well as video tours of the show floor, free play area and tournaments room are all available on the Pinball News Videos YouTube channel<\/a> in a special Pinball Expo 2024 playlist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, on with the coverage of Pinball Expo 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"One<\/a>
One of several illuminated Pinball Expo signs at the Convention Center<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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

The registration desks for show guests to collect their passes, show guide and event tickets opened a little after 10am in the main hall. Before the doors opened, quite a queue had built up in the lobby area outside and around the corner into the corridor.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"The<\/a>
The front of the line for registration<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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\"Inside,<\/a>
Inside, last minute preparations were complete<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
\"The
The doors open for registration<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

On one side, those who had pre-registered could collect their badges, wristbands and event passes. On the other, on-the-day registration was available, although probably 95%+ of Expo attendees this morning had pre-registered.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Pretty<\/a>
Pretty soon it was busy at the pre-registered desk<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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\"Pinball<\/a>
Pinball Expo organiser, Rob Berk, is happy with the show so far<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The opening of registration was also the first opportunity to purchase Pinball Expo branded merchandise, including the special T-shirt designed by Brian Allen of Flyland Design<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"The<\/a>
The 40th Pinball Expo T-shirt design<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

In the hall beyond, some preparations for the vendor stands were under way, most notably by Tilt Amusements and Stern Pinball. Tilt Amusements broiught over 100 new Stern games to Pinball Expo to display on the Stern Pinball stand and also for use in the tournaments area.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Inside<\/a>
Inside the show hall on Tuesday morning<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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\"Some<\/a>
Some of the new Stern pinballs from Tilt Amusements<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Attendees gathered for the Chicago Gaming Company and Galloping Ghost Arcade tours in the Convention Center lobby at 11:45am.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Guests<\/a>
Guests assembled in the Convention Center’s lobby to board the buses<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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\"The<\/a>
The line for the tours snaked around the escalators<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Three large yellow school buses arrived to convey guests to the Chicago Gaming factory in Cicero, around a 30 minute drive away.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Boarding<\/a>
Boarding the buses<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The weather turned rainy in the time it took to arrive at the factory. Everyone crammed into the lobby to keep dry, before being divided into groups for the tour.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"The<\/a>
The Chicago Gaming Company \/ Churchill Cabinets factory<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Once a group was formed, those guests had a little time to play some of the Chicago Gaming titles set up in a games room – Medieval Madness Remake<\/em>, Attack from Mars Remake<\/em>, Monster Bash Remake<\/em>, Cactus Canyon Remake<\/em> and Pulp Fiction<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Tour<\/a>
Tour guests enjoy the Chicago Gaming machines at the factory<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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\"All<\/a>
All the company’s pinball models were available to play<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

One of the Cactus Canyon Remakes<\/em> included the recently previewed saloon entrance add-on.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"The<\/a>
The new Saloon entrance mod on Cactus Canyon Remake<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Company owner, Doug Duba, welcomed everyone to the factory and the tour. He explained a little of the history of Churchill Cabinets and how the Chicago Gaming brand came into existence.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Doug<\/a>
Doug Duba welcomes Pinball Expo tour guests to his factory<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Unfortunately nobody was permitted to take photographs of the manufacturing processes, but if you want to see some of the behind-the-scenes pictures from the factory as it was back in 2016, check out our full Chicago Gaming Factory Tour report<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most guests received a complimentary gift bag containing a Chicago Gaming T-shirt, an iced cookie, a bag of plastic parts to make a Medieval Madness<\/em> catapult, and some Pulp Fiction<\/em> cards and stickers.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"The<\/a>
The Chicago Gaming goodie bag<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Sadly, there were more tour guests than expected, so the last few visitors to the factory didn’t get one of these goodie bags.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After completing the tour, the school buses took the Pinball Expo attendees to Galloping Ghost Arcade in Brookfield, another 30 minute drive away.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Galloping<\/a>
Galloping Ghost Arcade in Brookfield<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Galloping Ghost lays claim as “the largest arcade in the world”, something it’s hard to challenge. Certainly they have over 1,000 arcade video games tightly-packed in under one roof.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Some<\/a>
Some of the 1,000+ video games at Galloping Ghost Arcade<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The sheer number of arcade machines is breathtaking. It’s almost certain that if you can remember a game from your video playing days, you’ll find it here. Somewhere.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"There<\/a>
There are rows upon rows of video games like this at Galloping Ghost Arcade<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Pinball fans weren’t left out though, as three blocks down the street is Galloping Ghost Pinball, where you’ll find more than 40 machines set up to play for a one-time entry fee.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Galloping<\/a>
Galloping Ghost Pinball, just three blocks down from Galloping Ghost Arcade<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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\"Inside<\/a>
Inside the main room at Galloping Ghost Pinball<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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\"The<\/a>
The infamous Predator machine is one of the many games you can play<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Although pizza was served to tour guests back at the Galloping Ghost Arcade, we took the opportunity to grab a late lunch elsewhere before heading back to the Convention Center for Tuesday night’s movies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rob Berk introduced the screenings, with the first movie being Pinball: The Man Who Saved The Game<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Rob<\/a>
Rob Berk introduces the first of Tuesday night’s two movies<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The film is about a time in the life of Roger Sharpe, his involvement in the pinball industry and how he got to meet his wife Ellen. Roger and Ellen were both at the screening and spoke about how the film came to be made.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Roger<\/a>
Roger and Ellen Sharpe talk about the making of the movie<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The second movie of the evening was the 1975 film, Tommy, based on The Who’s rock opera.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The screening concluded the first day of Pinball Expo 2024. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Wednesday at Pinball Expo began at 9:45am with buses leaving for a ride to Logan Arcade in downtown Chicago. This would be followed by a factory tour of American Pinball.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The queue to join the tour was considerably longer than yesterday, with the line extending past the escalators and across the entrance to the Exploration Hall.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"The<\/a>
The queue for the buses to Logan Arcade and American Pinball<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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\"The<\/a>
The back of the line<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The original plan was for all tour guests to go to Logan Arcade first where they would have lunch before departing for the American Pinball tour. Due to the number of tour guests, the group was split so that the first four buses would go to Logan Arcade first, while the remaining buses would travel to American Pinball first. The two groups would then swap after lunch.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Rolando<\/a>
Rolando is first on the bus today<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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\"Rob<\/a>
Rob Berk welcomed all the tour guests as they boarded the bus<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Logan Arcade is 2410 W. Fullerton Ave. in Chicago, in the old Logan Hardware building. The distinctive sign of the old business remains outside. We had to stay back at the Convention Center to set up and test the equipment for the seminars which would begin on Thursday morning. However, Pinball News’s M.G. Brown took the tour so he could report the details.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"The<\/a>
The Logan Arcade front<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Inside is the best mix of pinballs and videos in the city. The business doesn’t usually open until 6pm during the week, but opened their doors to Pinball Expo guests on Wednesday morning.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Tour<\/a>
Tour guests arriving at Logan Arcade<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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\"Some<\/a>
Some of the regular pinball events hosted by Logan Arcade<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The games are all coin-operated and feature all the newest titles. Here is a quick look around.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Some<\/a>
Some of the pinballs at Logan Arcade<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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\"Some<\/a>
Some of the pinballs at Logan Arcade<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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\"Some<\/a>
Some of the pinballs at Logan Arcade<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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\"Pinball<\/a>
Pinball Expo tour guests enjoying the games<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
\"Some
Some of the pinballs and wall decorations at Logan Arcade<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n
\n
\"This<\/a>
This Godzilla VR shooter game is great fun to play<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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\"Logan<\/a>
Logan Arcade has a diverse range of drinks available at the bar<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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\"A<\/a>
A Pinball Expo beer mat with your drink<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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\"After<\/a>
After some ice cold beer, how about some Ice Cold Beer?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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\"Food<\/a>
Food was also provided in the form of pizza<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

From Logan Arcade, the buses transported guests to the American Pinball factory in Palatine, around a 45-minute drive north.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As with the Chicago Gaming tour the previous day, no photographs were allowed inside the factory. Guests were shown the manufacturing process for American Pinball machines as well as a look at the Aimtron operation in the same building. Aimtron is an electronics manufacturer and the partent company of American Pinball. Their main factory is a little distance away in another part of Palatine, but they also have some operations co-sited with American Pinball.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the tour, a selection of branded merchandise was available to purchase.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"American<\/a>
American Pinball branded caps, shirts, glasses and posters<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Soon after show guests had been driven back to the Convention Center, it was time for the Bumper Blast welcome party held at the nearby Enterrium arcade and restaurant. There was a reception for international Pinball Expo guests an hour before the Bumper Blast was opened up to everyone.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Rob<\/a>
Rob welcomes international guests to the Bumper Blast pre-party<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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\"Some<\/a>
Some cookies and snacks for international visitors<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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\"Rob<\/a>
Rob invited some of the international visitors to address the group in their native tongue<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

After an hour, the large group of domestic guests arrived and hot food was served to everyone.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"A<\/a>
A hot buffet was available for all Pinball Expo guests<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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\"Some<\/a>
Some of the hot buffet food<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Later, there was a special commemorative cake to mark the 40th anniversary show.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"The<\/a>
The celebration cake<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

After the meal, guests were invited to play the many pinballs and other arcade games available at Enterrium. Earlier, the finals of the Stern Pro Circuit Championship had been held. That has been won by Jared August, but the games were then opened up to all guests to play.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"The<\/a>
The tournament games were available for everyone to play<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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\"It<\/a>
It soon got pretty busy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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\"The<\/a>
The tournament play-off results<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

In addition to the pinballs, the regular arcade machines were available to play. Guests were given a pre-loaded card which gave a little over three hours of unlimited play on most games. The games which awarded prizes were generally not included, although credit could be purchased to allow access to these machines.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"The<\/a>
The pre-loaded game card for Pinball Expo guests<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Meanwhile, back at the Convention Center, work was underway to build up all the vendor stands in the main hall, and set up all the free play and tournament machines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The tournaments have been moved to a new, much larger space for 2024. The previous room was always rather cramped, but there is no such problem this year.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"The<\/a>
The new tournaments area<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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\"The<\/a>
The machines for the main tournament are on the right side of the room<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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\"The<\/a>
The Classic and Women’s Tournaments machines are on the left side<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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\"The<\/a>
The seating area for watching the live streaming<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The room which housed the tournaments in previous years is now the free play zone.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"The<\/a>
The Free Play Zone room<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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\"Machines<\/a>
Machines are arranged in long rows running the length of the room<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
\"The
The second row or machines<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n
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\"More<\/a>
More machines from the second row<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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\"A<\/a>
A special display of the five titles from Australian pinball maker, Hankin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Here’s a video tour of both the tournaments room and the free play zone shot in UHD 4K.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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