Creative Processing

Song of the Week

Most weeks, I try to tap into a timely vibe, emotion, or another piece of creative inspiration that drives almost every part of this newsletter, from the cover image to Song of the Week and the tone I use in my writing.

To be transparent, this week, I’m a little flat! My eye has been trained on other things, like a sick kiddo, a neighbor who ran their car into our house (damage is minimal, all things considered), and wrangling all the pieces for the Pinball Media Mixer in a few weeks.

As I think about it, that’s kind of a vibe to tap into on its own, so I’m including a favorite track by Dry Cleaning called Scratchcard Lanyard. Dry Cleaning have a distinctive sound thanks to lead singer Florence Shaw’s monotone, mostly spoken word delivery of her lyrics. But don’t let that fool you—there’s still quite a bit of dynamism and energy below the surface, which keeps me returning to this song in particular.

The music video is also a visual treat, with echoes of some of the GOATs of 1990s/2000s video direction—notes of Michel Gondry, Spike Jonze, and the puppet skits from Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood.

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Pinball News of the Week

New Photos from the JJP Media Event

I’ve been experimenting with carrying around disposable film cameras to a few recent events to augment what would typically be purely digital captures. With a disposable, it’s sort of a gimmick, at least more so than what Nudge Magazine does with full-size camera setups, but I like the character that comes through in the image that is almost impossible to recreate digitally. It’s also fun to shoot a bunch of stuff and have no idea how it’ll turn out till a few weeks later.

Barrels of Fun Celebrates 500 Labyrinth Games; Issues New Code Update

Congrats to Barrels of Fun on the milestone of building AND shipping 500 Labyrinth machines since releasing the game around Expo last year. It seems they are writing the playbook on how to launch a new pinball manufacturer and I’m looking forward to seeing their next title whenever it’s ready.

Barrels also released a code update to Labyrinth that adds challenge and Co-Op modes to the game.

Flip N’ Out Streams Avatar with Designer Mark Seiden

A few notes worth highlighting from the stream with lead designer Mark Seiden:

• He used components of his homebrew game, Metroid, as inspiration for some of the Avatar design elements. I haven’t shared it here yet, but when I was out at JJP for the release, I was fortunate to spend some time on that original game with Mark, walking me through some of those pieces, like the use of an infinity mirror and some shot placements and ball paths. These small details of the game development and creative process fascinate me.

  

  Mark’s Metroid Game

• There’s a code update in the works, including score rebalancing, bug fixes, and additional synced movie quotes.

• Speaking of movie quotes, Mark mentioned that they only received the audio assets a few weeks ago!

• At Pinball Expo, they plan to have more copies available to play than they did with Elton John and may be setting up a tent so attendees can experience the game in a low-light environment.

• The initial games were shipped with the flipper power set at 22, when it should have been 24. That will be fixed moving forward.

The Pinball Media Mixer is Sold Out! Welcoming New Sponsors

Around this time last year, I was worried no one would even show up for the first version of the mixer.

This year, we’re going to have 100+ attendees for a sold-out event. More than anything, though, what excites me is how it’s quickly becoming a community-organized and supported event. I’ve mentioned in prior editions how Erika from Erika’s Pinball Journey and Josh from LoserKid Pinball Podcast have been helping with organizing. We even have folks like Foghorn Leghorn from Pinball Junk Drawer chipping in on graphic design.

Plus, the sponsor support! Barrels of Fun and Pinball Brothers joined within the past week, alongside Planetary Pinball, Pedretti Pinball, Stern Pinball, FAST Pinball, Scorbit, PinHub, Silverball Swag, and PINQUEST.

Even though we’re sold out, we do have a waiting list running in case we’re able to open up additional spots. You can join the waiting list here.

Links of the Week

• Wormhole Pinball published Episode 2 of their Arcades Across America series with Lynn’s Arcade

• Erika’s Pinball Journey did a super cool walk-through video of the Jersey Jack factory floor with a 360° camera

• RetroRalph talked X-Men and Avatar with Cale from Electric Bat Arcade

• LoserKid Pinball Podcast discussed their experience with X-Men

• Cary Hardy dug his time on Avatar!

• Bash Pinball Podcast talked Johnny Mnemonic (we may or may not have a tutorial coming out on that game soon)

Pinball Map Location of the Week

Remember when Ryan and Scott from Pinball Map did a monthly series for us about new (to the map) pinball locations? Those were fun! Well, Ryan and Scott are back with a new series where they will highlight one new location each week. This week Scott chimes in with a look at Insert Coin in Olympia, WA . - Colin

I recently finished Carrie Brownstein's 2015 memoir "Hunger Makes Me A Modern Girl." Reading it felt like peeking into a diary, an unsanctioned thrill. Brownstein dedicated significant space to her time in Olympia, Washington, home of her alma mater, Evergreen College. I've always viewed Olympia as Portland's cooler, smaller sibling, with more flannel-centric entertainment per capita than the Rose City. I typically pass through Olympia en route to distant campsites, stopping only to purchase Trader Joe's liquor (unavailable in Oregon). So I felt excitement upon learning about Insert Coin, a new pinball mega-location within Olympia's city limits. Housed in a former 23,000 sq ft Crunch Fitness building, Insert Coin boasts 27 pinball machines, including the pinball map favorite Rescue 911, and over 200 arcade games. Will haunting whiffs of divorced men's stale workout sweat linger in the air? That remains unclear.

Insert Coin offers far more than just pinball for entertainment. For instance, it features ax throwing. You'll likely crane your neck towards friends, smirk wryly, and declare "I've never experienced pleasure like this" before hurling your ax into a bale of hay. A "self-pour wall" lets you try your hand at a common bartending task, while a "robot bartender" handles the labor of mixed drink creation, working tirelessly without complaint. Insert Coin has optimized every square foot of its gaming warehouse for coin insertion.

So if you plan on visiting the nearby Olympic National Forest, are a flustered Evergreen College student, or seek to lose yourself in a nostalgic wonderland of distractions, maybe check out Insert Coin. Perhaps it will become an inescapable third place, your mind increasingly fixated on coin insertion. You may beat Golden Axe II or even GC Starship Troopers, but to what end? Is this life spent exclusively at Insert Coin your own choice or an inevitability? Can the robot bartenders provide an empathetic ear alongside bourbon? Why is the front door locked? Could an ax shatter the egress window? Twenty years on, will your nostalgia for games of the 1990s evolve into something else, or will you continue to only find comfort in well-maintained System 11 pinball machines? Visit Insert Coin and find out!

Insert Coin
3430 Pacific Ave Se Olympia, WA 98501
Website

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