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Song of the Week
I've been looping Czarface and Frankie Pulitzer's "Mad Technology" (feat. Method Man) ever since it first graced my ears a few weeks ago. We don't feature a ton of hip hop here, but Czarface has ties to Wu-Tang and MF DOOM, so it's steeped in that old-school hip hop vibe, which I love.
A funny note: as I was digging into the group, I learned that Frankie Pulitzer, the one in the mask in the video, is none other than Tom Hardy.
Pinball News of the Week
"I'm Like a Cover Band": Paul Melio Talks With Brian Allen
Brian Allen drew the new art for two John Popadiuk remakes at the same time this year: Pedretti Gaming's Tales of the Arabian Nights and American Pinball's Cirqus Voltaire. Paul Melio talked with him for our latest interview, and Brian gets into why he treats a remake like a cover song ("There are a lot of bad covers out there that just play the song exactly the same"), working with a licensor's own art director, and why he thinks AI art is cheating.
It might be our first real article-and-podcast hybrid. Read the Q&A or listen to the conversation in our new audio player. Every question in the text has a play button that jumps the audio to that spot, so you can skip around.
Build a Better Pinball Business With Pinventory
Pinventory is business software for your pinball and arcade business — the games, the venues, the money, and the paperwork.
Log collections, split revenue with your locations, and email a branded payout statement when you settle up. Payback %, payoff date, and total return for every game, so you know which titles are really earning. Every repair, part, and audit is tracked per game and available on reports.
Players scan a QR code on the cabinet to report a broken game — no app, no login. It lands in Pinventory, sends an alert, and can be assigned right to a tech.
Free forever. Pro is $19/month if you want more. Built by Ed Giardina, creator of the IFPA Companion App.
Moving Units #8: Pokémon Cools Off, Transformers Carries the Summer
The eighth Moving Units tracker went out to paid subscribers on Thursday. Nothing this summer moved like Pokémon did in the spring. Transformers led the season at less than half that pace, and Fallout has only just arrived.
The paid sections cover the Harry Potter and King Kong race for the top 2025 release, Fallout's first weeks and the rest of 2026.
Two New Tutorials From solar_espeon: Laser War and Cirqus Voltaire
solar_espeon has two new tutorials up. Laser War was Data East's first pinball machine (1987), and her guide walks through lighting the locks, the 2- and 3-ball multiballs, the Ion Jackpot and the numbered Base saucer awards.
Cirqus Voltaire goes with this week's lead. Brian Allen drew the new art for American Pinball's remake, which starts shipping in October. The tutorial covers the nine Marvels, the Ringmaster multiballs and the Join the Cirqus wizard mode, plus the 2.0 code that Cameron Silver, the game's original software designer, released anonymously in 2002. It's expected to be playable on the remake.
Exploring EMs: Ted Zale's Decade at Bally
Ted Zale designed for Bally from 1963 to 1973, and he's the subject of solar_espeon's latest Exploring EMs column. She goes through eight of his machines and what each one introduced, from lock-and-release multiball on Star-Jet to the Balligator on Nip-It.
The Score Card 18: Two Stern Pro Circuit Stops
Matt Owen's Score Card 18 covers August's two Stern Pro Circuit stops: the District 82 Summer Pinball Classic and the Northwest Pinball Championships in Lynnwood. One came down to the last shot of a White Water game, and the other had its defending champion back to try again.
Pokémon 0.86 Turns On Insider Connected
Stern released Pokémon code 0.86.0 for the Pro, Premium and LE on September 15. It's the update owners have wanted for a while: Insider Connected is finally on. Log in and the Pokémon you catch go into a collection you can view in the Insider Connected app, and there are Achievements to earn. Play the Forest Battle once while logged in and you also unlock Travel, which lets you start a game in one of the other areas (the game calls them biomes).
It adds 31 Pokémon and four new modes:
Pikachu vs Mimikyu, a multiball that follows Pikachu vs Raichu
Bulbasaur 2, where the flipper buttons move two shot arrows, and lining them up pays triple awards
Squirtle 2, where you put out five shots that are on fire, then finish at the captive ball
Charmander 2, a ramp combo mode
Story Mode progression changed to match. The first-round modes qualify one of the two Pikachu mini-wizard modes (vs Lucario or vs Charizard), and the new second-round modes qualify the other. George Gomez talked through the update on Flip N Out before it dropped (it's in Links).
Sonic 0.940 Adds the Master Emerald Mission
Sonic's new code, 0.940, adds the Master Emerald Mission, a feature mode where Knuckles needs the shards of the Master Emerald back. To start it, complete 5 lab targets, 25 lab spins, 5 lab ramps and 5 lab orbits on the upper playfield, then shoot the center ramp.
It also turns on the Chaos Emerald powers. There are seven, one per color, and each changes a different part of the game (Cyan doubles your Chao Garden time; Blue bumps a completed level's rank up a letter). The rest of the highlights:
Find Froggy has 40+ new awards, including higher badnik values, extra ball save time, and all checkpoint shots lit
Boss battle awards are now customizable
New "tournament" settings for the center drop target and for Sonic Heroes Multiball qualifying
An improved Eggmobile motor driver, with better position tracking and less chance of the belt skipping teeth
An easier start: more lit shots and shortcuts in the first three levels, and the first boss can now be beaten with the badnik targets
New Micro-LED ring animations and lamp effects
Fixes for a crash after beating a boss with the "NONE" award selected, and for a left slingshot that wasn't firing when it should
Jersey Jack released it on Tuesday, September 22, and games on Wi-Fi can download it directly.
Stern Adds D&D and King Kong Accessories
Dungeons & Dragons: The Tyrant's Eye got its accessory line on September 22. The headliner is the $1,799.99 Treasure Chest Topper, a motorized chest that opens on either loot or a Mimic. Topper owners get game content, too: a Mimic Mania mode, and Rowan Freewander, a new playable Fighter with an Add-A-Ball ability and speech by Brendon Small. The rest of the line is a D20 shooter knob ($199.99), side armor ($349.99), speaker lighting for the Pro and Premium ($199.99), and art blades ($99.99).
King Kong got two new pieces the day before: a $79.99 dust cover for the glass, and a limited shadow box by Artovision ($279.99, pre-order, shipping around November). The shadow box is Zombie Yeti's art in layered acrylic, framed for the wall, numbered to 300, and signed by Keith Elwin and Zombie Yeti.
The IFPA Sets WPPR v6.3 for 2027
The IFPA announced WPPR v6.3 on September 21. It takes effect January 1, 2027, and most of it tightens the rules for Certified tournaments:
An event running several tournaments over several days gets one Certified tournament, and the tournament director picks which (restricted divisions like women's events are exempt)
Direct-play events that split games into groups, usually by era, have to do it in both qualifying and finals
4-player Match Play Qualifying goes from a 20-game minimum to 24
Pin-Golf becomes a Certified format if it matches IFPA Pin-Masters (18 holes, same stroke scoring) and meets minimum scoring averages
HYBRID Best Game events no longer need exactly 4X as many entries as titles. The minimum is now the greater of 3X the titles or 4X the scores that count
The multi-tournament rule and Pin-Golf were both proposed in the IFPA's Quarter Drop, which we linked on 9/4. The IFPA says details could change before launch.
Mountain Dew Adds $25,000 to the Stern Pro Circuit Championship
Mountain Dew is putting an additional $25,000 into the prize pool for the Stern Pro Circuit Championship on October 14. The Pinball Capital in Stone Park, Illinois, is hosting, and it streams on Stern's YouTube and Twitch. It's invitation-only for the circuit's top 32 players, with no entry fee. For scale, last year's championship posted a prize pool of about $22,000 in cash, plus a new Stern Pro and the belt for the winner.
Links of the Week
Toys "R" Us is opening 120 new stores as grownup collectors fuel toy sales — NBC reads the Toys "R" Us comeback as a story about who buys toys now. Circana says adult-only households account for 55% of toy spending, a similar trend to what drives many pinball purchases.
Both Elvira tables come to Pinball FX Midnight and Judge Dredd comes to Pinball FX — Both on October 22. Midnight is the renamed Pinball M, and Judge Dredd is Bally's 1993 table.
John Wick goes into the Stern Vault — Stern moved it into the Vault on September 18. New units had slowed to a trickle by then, so the demand just isn't there anymore. Moving Units #8 has what its last months looked like.
Obsidian Entertainment is officially moving under Bethesda as it works on its new Fallout game — More Fallout is on the way for fans who want it. Matt Booty, Microsoft's chief content officer, announced the move, and remasters of Fallout 3 and New Vegas and Fallout 5 are in the pipeline too.
Wedgehead Pinball Podcast: Pinball Composer II and The Music of Dan Forden — Speaking of Matt Booty: long before Xbox (and before he ran Midway), he managed the Williams sound department and co-designed DCS, the sound system Dan Forden composed on for games like Star Trek: The Next Generation. Wedgehead did two episodes with Forden, one on how he approaches pinball sound and one that goes game by game through his scores, including the Black Knight 2000 guitar sound he says he reused in just about every game after.
Dirty Pool Podcast: Tasker Smith, A Quest for Pinball Mastery — Tasker on writing Pinball: A Quest for Mastery, which he calls the first how-to-play pinball book in about 50 years. (We talked with him in July, too.)
Dirty Pool Podcast: Keith Elwin, Amateur Pinball Player — Elwin on designing mechs first, the shark-eats-the-ball mech that got cut from JAWS, and why Fallout was so much fun to work on.
Flip N Out: Inside Pinball with George Gomez — Gomez on the Pokémon Insider Connected update, getting approvals from The Pokémon Company, why the transforming toy came off Transformers, and X-Men code updates before the end of the year.
Jared August wins PAPA 23 — His first Major, which makes him the 37th player ever to win one. He qualified 11th, won the first two games of the final, and had clinched it before his turn in Game 3.
Punk Rock Pinball Podcast: 46,000 Points?! Our PAPA World Championships Recap — PAPA from the competitor's side: zero ball save, bouncy slings, steep pitch, and a 46,000 on Star Wars they figure might be a record low.
Wild Dog Arcade: Are You Cleaning Your Pinball Machine Wrong? — A home owner's cleaning routine for the playfield, rubbers, plastics and glass. Go easy: clear coat is thin, so skip anything with grit, and keep ammonia cleaners off anti-glare glass.
Poll of the Week
Last Issue’s Results
“out, Out, Out!, OUT!… as a Stern former fanboy I have to remember the people that Stern has been disrespecting all of us with that lack of code, also paying $1,000 + for a few toys won’t be worth it at all(you will be disappointed once again)… In addition to the laziness that Stern had for a good art in the LE, what a disappointment to see the same childish art around the machine… Yuck!”
“It's one of my favorite games growing up and Elwin designing it is the perfect pairing. I really don't like the look of the pro and premium though”
“Meh. The homebrew was better.”
“I wouldn’t buy one, but would play it.”
“just not a title i'm interested in. Initial appearance based on the pictures and medial releases so far do not sway my thinking that this pinball machine is unique. It appears that it is more the usual for Stern with quantity of new machines versus quality of the product. I would love to play one and see if it changes my mind...”
“While it looks pretty decent, I fear it’s another shameless cash grab on currently relevant IP. Also a bit bummed out that it solely focuses on the TV show adaptation.”
“Looks phenomenal!”
“LE Baby!”
“Looks super cool and fun to play but not a theme I'm interested in, especially at the new prices.”
“Out... I will not support this price increase without additional adders... example
Stern Premium at $1,000 increase should include side art and shaker motor at a minimum.”
“I love the theme and love the show and I'll definitely play on location. BUT I can't justify buying a $7300 Pro that's so stripped down that it feels like it could be a Costco home edition.”
“Looks ridiculously childish. I had to look up Fallout as I’ve never heard of it before. No interest in this at all.”
“Out yet again.
I have been priced out of the NIB market for quite some time. Normality has finally returned and pins are back to depreciating as it should be. I'll wait and maybe pick up a used one for a hefty discount.”
“It looks great, but I would want the Premium or LE. Either way, I can't afford it!”
“Too expensive and the theme doesn't interest me.”
“The pin looks like it would be fun to play but I’m not into the IP. Too many other good pins coming out for me to chase this one.”
“I'll play it on location. No need to buy one at this point.”
“As a long time fan of the game series, this was a dream theme I would have never seen coming if the show had not been a hit.”
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