This is the River City Flippers new logo. It will be on the back of our new t-shirts. Let us know if you would like to order a shirt.
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Circus Maximus!
A fantastic pinball designer named Python Anghelo passed away recently. Phython designed many fantastic machines and was full of energy and enthusiasm for life and pinball. Prior to his death, Python had been saying for a while that the follow up to his Pinball Circus was going to be produced. The only Pinball Circus machines that exist are prototypes as it never went into production.
One of the prototypes can be played at the Pinball Hall of Fame in Las Vegas.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUHaMvELf6A
The machine has the player work up through a series of tiered playfields. Based on the step by step progress, the game is linear and it is said that it lacks replay value. Python defended this accusation by saying that the prototypes did not contain all that he had intended to include in the machine.
A group called Circus Maximus Games has announced that they intend to release a version of Pinball Circus. Their blog includes interesting photos of the process used in creating vacuum formed ramps.
Vonnie D Pinball Kickstarter
Vonnie D has announced a kickstarter seeking funding for a widebody pinball machine called Pinball Gremlins. Vonnie D is looking to incorporate video game-like modes and bosses that they player will fight against for score and to complete modes. The gremlins will also interact with the game to disable parts and affect play. Based on the announcement, they are pretty far along with a white wood and their own led design. If the kickstarter is funded, Barry Oursler has agreed to design modes for the game.
John Trudeau Interview
This past weekend was the first Southern Fried Gaming Expo in Atlanta, Ga. Based on the PAPA coverage and various posts, it was a big success. This interview of John Trudeau, who most recently designed Stern’s Mustang, was filmed there.
WOZ Rule Flowchart
When I play WOZ, I often have the feeling that I barely know what is going on and I am only scratching the surface of the rules. This flow chart proves that I was right on both points. The depth of WOZ is amazing. How long would it take to play all the way through?
Check the game tape!
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCx013tuhcEvj8pYUfcvtEOQ
Richmond PInball League youtube channel! Mark it and watch it over and over!
Opinions of a pinball artist from creditdotpinball.com
Over at creditdotpinball.com, the owner of the site posted a complaint about the recently released Hobbit playfield art. In response to his article, he received an email from Doug Watson, an accomplished pinball artist with many games to his credit. The e-mail was so interesting that creditdotpinball got permission from Watson to publish the letter which you can find here. The email has a great story about Watson’s work on Attack from Mars and all the effort he went to in order to get exactly what he wanted.
I disagree with the e-mail to the extent that it seems to chastise current artists for using photoshop and not doing the hard work. I think that a person dedicated to art would like to be cut loose like Watson was and would likely do the necessary work to achieve a great result. I think the real problem is the insistence, likely with good reason, on using licensed themes.
Licensed themes lead to limited artwork filled with photoshopped images because the license holder insists on total control of the license. Marvel, or whatever company held the Iron Man license, would not allow target decals reading Iron Man because the two sets of targets were separated on the playfield and the license required that the words Iron Man not be separated. As a result, the machine shipped without Iron Man stickers. This level of control is an absolute constraint on artists and we will not see a return to great pinball art until there is an unlicensed machine produced or there is a license holder with a vision that allows for flexibility beyond the use of photoshopped images.
Videos from NorthWest Pinball and Arcade Show
I was checking out funwithbonus.com today which is a great website by an excellent tournament pinball played named Steve Bowden. He recently featured a video of Steve Ritchie doing an hour long presentation at NWPAS about the creation of his Star Trek pinball machine for Stern.
When I looked at youtube, I saw that the poster had posted a number of other cool videos from NWPAS 2014, and some from previous years, which you can check out here.
Another Pinball Company?
VonnieD pinball is on its way. For now, the website is just a countdown timer. The twitter page has a playfield teaser. The most interesting news so far is that Gabriel Picolo, the artist behind 365 Days of Doodles, will do the art for VonnieD. Since I saw this notice, I have been following 365 Days of Doodles on Facebook. Picolo is very talented and it is exciting to think about what he can do on a pinball playfield.
Project Pinball
Project Pinball is a charity that combines a passion for pinball with a desire to bring some needed recreation to hospitalized kids. Project Pinball is a 501(c)(3) charity that is dedicated to placing pinball machines in children’s hospitals. The IFPA is supporting Project Pinball through a July fundrasing campaign. There will be special WPPR points eligible tournaments in July to raise money for Project Pinball. You can show your support by attending a tournament, making a donation or buying a t-shirt.
The tournament listing can be found here.
RVA Pinball 