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Spooky Reveals Evil Dead | Rocky & Bullwinkle Tutorial | Pinball XP | News of the Week | Product(s) of the Week | Location(s) of the Week | Links | More!
Colin Alsheimer
November 22, 2024 • Time to Read: 10 minutes
This Week in Pinball has been another good week for pinball. Have we mentioned pinball lately? Pinball.
This Week's Pinball Agenda
Song of the Week
There’s a lot to dive into this week, so we’re going with one of the shortest songs in my private playlist for potential TWIP Song of the Week picks. Money by Caroline Rose is off their 2nd full-length album, Loner, released in 2018. I love the energy and vocal stylings in this song as it does a bit of a modern take on a rockabilly track.
Onto the pinball goods!
Sponsor of the Week
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Pinball News of the Week
Spooky Pinball Reveals Evil Dead
The big news of the week is the launch and reveal of Spooky Pinball’s latest game, Evil Dead! This newsletter may or may not be delayed so that we could gather as much of the pertinent release details as possible before sending it out (side note: hey manufacturers, help me help you and send us press materials in advance!)
We’ve got pricing, availability, photos, notable storylines and more in our official deep dive post.
Personally, I’m impressed with what I’ve seen so far. It certainly seems like Spooky is trying to check off all the things their customers are asking for. I particularly like the decision to go with a single trim line. That said, with all the different mechs and toys, I would be concerned about reliability, but maybe producing fewer total units (888) will help the Spooky team with QA needs.
New Rocky & Bullwinkle Pinball Tutorial
This week we’re taking a look at an obscure early 1990s favorite from author Noah Crable. In it, he covers everything you need to know about Data East’s Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends. Check it out!
Stern Releases Metallica Remastered Accessories
Not to be lost in the frey, Stern Pinball announced the official accessories package and topper for Metallica Remastered, which came alongside its own minor controversy, namely the standard community complaints about pricing. Which is understandable, but fortunately you don’t have to buy the accessories to enjoy the game!
Jersey Jack Pinball Launches Pinball XP
At Orlando’s IAAPA tradeshow, Jersey Jack revealed their new Pinball XP system, which brings a new level of interactivity and features for Jersey Jack games, primarily targeted to larger family entertainment centers (FECs) and other large operators. Pinball XP includes a 65” display mounted above the pinball machine for easy spectator viewing, as well as integrations that allow for ticket redemption, leaderboards, and player XP progression.
Product(s) of the Week
Introducing the Official Roger Sharpe Collectible Action Figure
For those of you who missed the dedicated email send earlier this week, we’re so excited to have released our very first physical product, the Official Roger Sharpe Collectible Action Figure! The response to this has been incredible, and as of sending this we are down to our last 11 figures from the 100 unit First Edition. First Edition figures are signed by Roger Sharpe and artist Dano Brown, as well as hand numbered. Order yours today!
New JAWS 3D Glasses Mod from Brad Albright
Another fun product launch that we felt compelled to feature here is the new JAWS 3D Glasses Mod from artist Brad Albright. It’s an incredibly well executed, fun idea that builds on Brad’s work with 3D art and solves the ever important problem of “where the heck do I put my JAWS 3D glasses when I’m not playing”. Check out some of the behind-the-scenes notes posted on Pinside, and order yours at Brad’s shop.
Pinball Map Location(s) 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 Time Rift Arcade and Pixel Palace.
Time Rift Arcade
This week we have a classic Texas two-fer! Texas is so huge that these two locations are practically next door neighbors, so I thought I’d highlight them both! Though, if they really were neighbors, they would probably be arch-rivals, so I think it’s good that there’s some Texas distance between them (about one hour by high speed rail (that doesn’t exist in Texas)).
The first thing about Time Rift Arcade, in Bedford (Dallas/Fort Worth area), that stood out to me was the reasonable cost to play. Like many arcades these days, they want nothing to do with quarters, or tokens, or cards. Just pay $12 for all day play, or $20 for… all month play?? That is metaphorically insane. Once you’re hooked, they dangle 10 hot dogs in front of your maw. They have 9 pinball machines - 5 of which are from the ‘90s! And they’re family friendly and free of booze.
Pixel Palace
Texas’s official slogan for traffic safety (adopted in 1973) is “Drive Friendly - The Texas Way”, and I hope you keep that in mind as you careen southward to Pixel Palace Arcade & Bar. This joint is in Round Rock, just outside of Austin. Despite the barness, they allow minors in until 8pm. They have a diverse menu, including straight up Kraft Mac & Cheese. There’s a lot of rad neon in this palace, but also, interestingly, there appears to be a replica ‘80s living room with a couch, table, non-LED lamp, and a TV with an NES connected to it. Plop of bowl of mac & cheese on that table, and it would be like my own childhood, except with strangers constantly wandering into the room.
Pixel Palace has 8 machines, and 4 are from the ‘90s! Stay cool, Texas.
Time Rift Arcade
2113 Harwood Rd, Bedford, TX 76021
Website
Pixel Palace
2471 S A.W. Grimes Blvd, Round Rock, TX 78664
Website
Links of the Week
LoserKid Pinball Podcast interviewed John Borg about Metallica Remastered
Cary Hardy interviewed Chris Turner of Turner Pinball
904 Pinball Zine interviewed Jersey Jack’s Eric Meunier about PinballXP
Wormhole Pinball interviewed JJPs Krystle Gemnich
For those of you jumping on the Bluesky bandwagon, find us there! We are also maintaining a handy pinball community starter pack to help your onboarding go a little faster!
Opportunities of the Week
Coming from our new Pinball Media & Creators Discord channel, the Scorbit team is on the lookout for a Pixel Artist who can make some art that can render on 90s and 2000s era DMDs. If that’s you, reply to this info and I’ll pass along your details!
If you’re running a pinball-centric Black Friday deal, send us a note ([email protected]) with your details and we’ll include it in our annual round-up post next week.
Poll of the Week
Are you in or out on Spooky's Evil Dead? |
Last Week’s Poll Results
“Indeed! His new hobby gives him confidence in himself, leading to happiness and better things down the line. IMO, he eventually adopts another dog and remembers his dearly departed pet with fondness, as well as meeting a neat lady in the pinball league that he definitely joins and they mutually hit it off. :D”
“Very cool write up. I especially liked the Obscure Pinball facts. lol Had no idea Bryan Allen designed the Flyer’s mascot Gritty. And of course George Gomez the legend, with his Commodore Amiga. I look forward to these every week. Cheers. -ESA”
“I've known too many boys like that lol, women around my age tend to wise up...”
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