- This Week in Pinball
- Posts
- It's More Fun to Compete
It's More Fun to Compete
NACS & WNACS Winners | Pro Pinball Deep Dive | Degenies Categories | Scorbit & Pedretti | Location of the Week | Links | More!
Colin Alsheimer
January 24, 2025 • Time to Read: 15 minutes
This Week in Pinball, we’re talking about competitive pinball.
This Week's Pinball Agenda
Song of the Week
Have you ever heard a song that completely changed your relationship with life and music? Something with a sound so unique and novel that it forced you to re-examine what you thought you knew of the medium? It happens less frequently for me now, but circa 2004, Tunde Adebimpe’s band TV on the Radio blew my effing mind with their single New Health Rock. The first time I heard it was like discovering an entire new planet existed and was all mine to explore.
21 years and several albums later, Tunde is back with his first solo record (to be released later this year), and his first single from said album, Magnetic, re-captures a lot of that feeling for me.
Those of you who have been watching Star Wars: Skeleton Crew may also recognize Tunde (he plays Wendle, Wim's dad in the series).
Sponsor of the Week
Seeking impartial news? Meet 1440.
Every day, 3.5 million readers turn to 1440 for their factual news. We sift through 100+ sources to bring you a complete summary of politics, global events, business, and culture, all in a brief 5-minute email. Enjoy an impartial news experience.
If you were a paid subscriber, you wouldn’t see this ad! Sign up for $4.99/mo to support our work and receive other perks like access to our private Discord chat.
Pinball News of the Week
IFPA NACS/WNACS Wraps; Congrats to All the Winners
Last week we received some (extremely valid) feedback that we didn’t do enough to highlight the IFPA North American Championships going on all weekend. And by not doing enough, truthfully, we didn’t do anything at all. I admit it’s a gap we have in our coverage, even with all the awesome tournament recaps that Matt Owen provides for us. So this is my attempt to narrow that gap by acknowledging in writing all the talented winners from last weekend’s events.
And, as a related aside, we’re always on the lookout for freelance writers who might be looking to cover the pinball space, competitive or otherwise!
INDISC Starts This Weekend
Speaking of competitive pinball, you should watch some INDISC coverage this weekend. INDISC (It Never Drains in Southern California) is one of the premier tournaments on the annual calendar and typically one of the best-produced streams to boot, thanks to IE Pinball. It’s been known to generate some high-profile moments too, like Escher Lefkoff’s walkoff win in 2023.
Deep Dive on the Pro Pinball Series
For those who enjoy nerding out on all forms of pinball, we’ve got another foray into the digital pinball world with a deep dive into the classic Pro Pinball series, originally released in the 1990s. Noah Crable covers each table in that series (The Web, Timeshock!, Big Race USA, and Fantastic Journey), drawing unique parallels and connections to contemporary physical pinball releases of the time.
Degenies Awards Categories Announced
Besides the TWIPYs, the other major award show on the calendar this year is the Pinball Degenerates Awards (aka The Degenies). These awards are the brainchild of Joe Ciaravino and something I personally look forward to every year. I’ve been told there are some fun surprises planned for this year’s edition, plus we get to find out what happened to Billy P. Ball after the dramatic conclusion to last year’s show. This week, Joe announced the official categories (which change every year).
Awards include:
Most Degenerate Competition Pinball Player
Most Degenerate Homebrew Pinball
Most Degenerate Pinball Commentator
Most Degenerate Pinball Couple
Most Degenerate Pinball Event
Most Degenerate Pinball Fail
Most Degenerate Pinball Fashion
Most Degenerate Pinball Hack
Most Degenerate Pinball Hair
Most Degenerate Pinball Location Washrooms
Most Degenerate Pinball Meme
Most Degenerate Pinball Operator
Most Degenerate Pinball Pet
Most Degenerate Pinball Podcaster
Most Degenerate Pinball Restoration
Most Degenerate Pinball Stance
Most Degenerate Pinball Streamer
Most Degenerate Pinball Tattoo
Most Degenerate Pinball Tournament Director
Most Degenerate Pinball Trophy
Most Degenerate Pinball Vehicle
Most Degenerate Pinjury
Pinball Degenerate of the Year
Submit nominations for any of the awards by posting in the Pinball Degenerates Facebook group.
New Referral Program for Multimorphic Games
Multimorphic announced a new referral program for existing P3 customers, which could amount to significant savings for those who are invested in or looking to join the P3 ecosystem. Multimorphic states, “Any registered P3 owner who refers to us a new buyer that subsequently completes the purchase of their first P3 with an installed game kit will receive $1000 in Multimorphic store credit. Further, to help you entice new buyers, we'll also discount their purchase by $1000 and offer them 10% off of each additional, unique game kit purchased on the same invoice.” More details on the initiative can be found here.
Scorbit Announces Integration with Pedretti Games
Pedretti Gaming is adding Scorbit functionality to Funhouse Remake games (and presumably other future remake titles as well). Happy to see another manufacturer embracing connected pinball!
Pinball Map Location of the Week
Ryan and Scott from Pinball Map run a regular series that highlights one new pinball location each week. This week, Ryan writes about The 1up Arcade Bar in Westminster, Colorado.
If I were opening up my own arcade, I would name it “Ryan’s 2-Up Hut”. “Ryan” because that’s my name and it’s important that everyone knows who owns the arcade and that they say my name often. “Hut” because any place with Hut in the name will be immediately identified as a comfy place to post up for a bit. And “2-Up” because there are already 13 places on Pinball Map with some variation of “1-up” in the name, and a 2-up is presumably twice as good as a 1-up.
But I’m not opening up an arcade, so let’s go back to those other 13 1-ups. They appear to be from 7 different companies. Guess there’s no business name trademark on it like there is for “barcade” or “tilt.” Is it confusing for there to be a “1UP Arcade & Pub” in Plattsburgh, New York and a totally different “The 1up Arcade Bar” in the Denver, Colorado area? It’s not. Who cares. We’re smart, you and I, and it’s not a bother for us.
Anyway, three of these 1ups were in Colorado and were locations from the same company, and now they’ve opened up a 4th, so now I can return to the present tense. With this 4th location, they’ve firmly established themselves as the dominant 1up (until I 1up them with my 2up hut). This new place, in Westminster in Northern Denver, has 44 pinball machines. In fact, if you total up their four locations, they have 117 machines! What would be incredible is if they could develop a subterranean tube system so visitors can quickly bridge the miles of suburban sprawl between each one.
What else. They have custom slush puppies on the menu, six different Red Bull mixes, and you can even order a 40oz Mickey’s (is that wise?). They have monthly pinball tournaments. And the games list on their website links to Kineticist! So go, I implore you. Get on a jet to Colorado NOW and insert your dollar and press start and then plunge.
The 1up Arcade Bar
4750 W. 120th Ave, Westminster, CO 80020
Website
Second Sponsor of the Week
In the past, we relied on paper lists and brick-and-mortar stores, but Amazon Prime has revolutionized the way we shop. While free shipping and exclusive shows are great, don't miss these 10 hidden perks that can enhance your membership.
If you were a paid subscriber, you wouldn’t see this ad! Sign up for $4.99/mo to support our work and receive other perks like access to our private Discord chat.
Links of the Week
Pinball Profile released their annual “Most Intriguing People in Pinball” list and Pinball Media made the cut!
Great episode of In Before the Lock this week with special guests Jimmy Lipham (86 Pixels) and Brad Roback (Pingrips). I particularly enjoyed some of the glimpses into the business side of mod-making.
Wedgehead Pinball Podcast covered pinball maintenance and my main takeaway is that Naptha is bad I guess.
The Tested Team did a mini-documentary with The Rewind Arcade
Hey look, it’s more content about competitive pinball! We have a new episode of Wizards & Warriors recapping Pincinnati and the NACS/WNACS tournaments.
Phantom Tilt Podcast scored a neat interview with Vincent Proce, the artist for Stern’s Dungeons & Dragons.
TWIPY Awards Updates of the Week
Voting officially wrapped up this week with a strong close over the weekend. We blew past all of our initial goals for voting participation with about 6,900 votes from around the world. This represents a 200% increase from the vote total from last year and a 20% increase in votes from our previous high in 2022.
We recorded votes from 60 different countries, which also broke our previous high of 50 countries in 2022.
twipys.com saw nearly 30,000 visitors throughout the voting period, from over 100 different countries.
Tickets are still available for those who want to join in on the fun live and party with us at The Wormhole in Houston (plus a few other pinball-focused activities, like a tour of the Barrels of Fun factory and a tour of the Wormhole game vault).
Poll of the Week
Do you play competitive pinball? |
Last Week’s Poll Results
“As choices broaden and barns get full, a theme has to land pretty well for most folks to consider spending NIB money in 2025, but everyone has themes they know would likely demand space. Then the tough part begins...”
“I have been buying NIB since 1998 and I don't plan on stopping anytime soon. Nothing beats that NIB smell! ”
“I will never buy another NIB game again.”
“Dammit! They just keep making more and more games that hit me in that special spot. I buy even after promising my wife (and myself) that I won’t. Addictive hobby.”
“…and after the betrayal of my X-MEN Uncanny LE by Stern, I decided for good that that was THE LAST NIB in our home. Period!”
“I have 3 games bolted to the floor and only room for 1 more. Waiting for the TOM remake (let’s go CGC or Pedretti or whoever wants to sell a shit-ton of TOMs)!”
“Buying my one nib in 2024, is one more nib purchase made over my lifetime prior to that purchase.”
“I voted “bought the same number” which is to say, zero. I bought zero. Hopefully someday I will own a pin, whether it’s my pie-in-the-sky of Stranger Things LE or something else. :,,)”
“NIB pins have simply become too expensive. The manufacturers, namely Stern & JJP, need to take a good hard look at their pricing structure. Based on this survey, fewer are purchasing NIB pins; and going forward, given the large decline in the secondary market, pricing on most used titles could worsen. Simply too much high level of instant depreciation to support the current pricing levels. Time will tell if this trend continues. ”
“Thankfully FOMO days are over and buyers can't expect to make a couple grand after playing a few hundred games. Back to reality, a little bit.”
“I’m new to the hobby (but happy to be here) and bought my first NIB pin this year.”
Thank you for reading! I love putting these together, but it’s also real work, and paid subscriptions are what make it worth my time. Paid subscribers get Discord access, early access to product launches, ad-free newsletters, and my unending love and appreciation. If you are already a paid subscriber, thank you so much!
Reply