- This Week in Pinball
- Posts
- Ready for Battle
Ready for Battle
JJP Avatar Revealed | X-Men Gameplay Stream | New PAPA Champ | Pinball Tourney Prep | Pinball Steam Games | Links | More!
Colin Alsheimer
September 13, 2024 • Time to Read: 9 minutes
This Week in Pinball the battle lines have officially been drawn, may the best game win!
This Week's Pinball Agenda
Song of the Week
I telegraphed that this would be our Song of the Week the day after it was released. I can’t say I’m usually a huge Megan Thee Stallion fan or even that familiar with her catalog but when a mainstream recording artist puts out a music video completely themed around pinball, you best believe I’m going to include it here!
The song itself is inoffensive musically, and if nothing else, it does put me in a hyped-up headspace. It’s got attitude in spades, and I love the visual spectacle as they cut between stylized pinball set pieces and anime clips.
And in a week when I’m traveling to Chicago to play new pinball, I need something that fits our vibe but that I don’t have to think too hard about.
Sponsor of the Week
Streaming on a device near you! Pinball: The Man Who Saved the Game
Love pinball? Love movies? Love movies about pinball? Then grab your quarters and popcorn because Big Movie Watch, the film club from library streaming video service Kanopy, is bringing you Pinball: The Man Who Saved the Game! Based on true events, Pinball is the captivating story of Roger Sharpe who helped overturn New York City’s 35-year ban on pinball.
Borrow and watch the film on Kanopy through your public library* ticket-free from September 5-16, and chat about it with other viewers on the discussion board.
*Not all libraries offer Kanopy. Check with your local library to learn more about their offerings.
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
I’m writing this in the air on my way to Jersey Jack’s headquarters in Chicago to sample Avatar, so the news this week will be a mix of shorter topical updates and a few pre-produced pieces that my team busted their butts to push live in time. I hope you enjoy it!
Jersey Jack Reveals Avatar: The Battle for Pandora
After prolonged teasing by Jersey Jack Pinball, the anticipated Avatar: Battle for Pandora was revealed to the public Thursday morning Chicago time. Jersey Jack led with a highly produced “Deep Dive” featurette on the game, including extensive commentary with the creative and production team. We have all the pertinent details in our own deep dive, including key features, photos, videos, gameplay rules (including the helpful flow chart), and more.
Uncanny X-Men Gameplay Stream
Not to be outdone, the Stern pinball team held their official gameplay stream of The Uncanny X-Men from the Stern headquarters. They put an LE copy of the game through its paces for about an hour while donning some thematically appropriate costumes that certainly drew the eye, so to speak!
Raymond Davidson Wins PAPA 21
Congratulations to Raymond Davidson for emerging victorious from the cutthroat field of competitors at last week’s PAPA 21 tournament. This win marks his 3rd Major Championship, becoming the 8th player in competitive pinball history to reach this accomplishment. We hear the event ran beautifully, and lots of money was raised for Suicide Awareness in memory of Lyman F. Sheats Jr., so kudos to everyone involved.
Pinball Preparedness: How to Prep for Your Next Pinball Tournament
.webp)
Speaking of pinball tournaments, we have a brief but informative article from Kineticist contributor and frequent tournament player Matt Owen with some quick tips on preparing for your next pinball tournament or league night for those getting back into the swing of things after summer travel.
The Best Pinball Games for Steam Deck
Matt also took a look at the pinball-themed offerings available for the Steam Deck to satisfy your on-the-go pinball cravings. There are a few here that were new to me that I’m hoping to check out soon, particularly Yoku’s Island Express and The Pinball Wizard.
Pinball Media Mixer Registration Now Open
10.17.24 @ Pinball Expo
Registration for the Pinball Media mixer is now open!
More details can be found on the event registration page. We soft-launched earlier this week with direct outreach to creators and media folks so that they could have first dibs at the complimentary creator tickets.
Now that a few days have passed, we’re opening up registration for remaining Creator Tickets (for media and creators) if we missed you in our initial outreach, as well as Community Tickets ($10 each, for friends & supporters).
We’re already 60% sold out, so if you want to join, register soon!
Huge thanks to those who have offered sponsorship support to date, including Stern Pinball, FAST Pinball, Scorbit, PinHub, Silverball Swag, and PINQUEST. These sponsorships are essential to running this event and enable us to offer perks for creators like free entry and drink tickets.
Links of the Week
Stern’s George Gomez was interviewed on the Phantom Pinball Podcast.
Pinball Spire, a new pinball/metroidvania mashup hits Steam October 21st.
Wormhole Pinball interviewed Todd Tuckey and covered a range of topics! They even ran something up the flagpole about the TWIPYs that sounds… interesting, to say the least!
DPX is collaborating with Stumblor Pinball to open up avenues for mod makers with their upcoming Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland game.
Fantastic conversation on Gonzo’s Pinball Flipperama about the X-Men gameplay stream, internet reactions, and some of the problems with Pinside discourse.
Poll of the Week
Are you in or out on Avatar: The Battle for Pandora? |
Last Week’s Poll Results
Are you in or out on The Uncanny X-Men?
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 In (64)
🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️ Out (37)
101 Votes
“It's going to be fun to listen to all the haters in this hobby, who have complained for years about a lack of innovation and unique layouts from Stern, twist themselves into knots so they can continue to hate on the company for putting out a fresh & exciting new game. "Not like that! Not like that!"
“I feel like what we're seeing here is Jack turning into the hottest property in pinball. An insane and gutsy layout, with throwbacks to cult 80s classics, show a finger-on-the-pulse understanding of what consumers want right now - mech mechs and more mechs, and the death of the fan layout. And the theme? Not as important as people think. Whoda thunk it.”
“JD’s vision & pinball iq/vision are something special & refreshing. His take on PB mixing the old with the new & innovating/adding his own touch have now given us 2 exciting games that welcome all styles of play, are have redonkulasley fun layouts. FF truly helped elevate my game, as it forced to me try different styles and figure out what to do with some new angles which the ball was returning to me etc. Team Danger has truly done Justice to the theme. This release has provided a needed rejuvenating, refreshing jolt to pinball.”
“No more Comic pins please!”
“Fantastic looking game, but I'm not a fan of the theme. In any case, I can't afford to buy a machine at present!”
“Holy wah! The Danger Room, wire form interferences by the Sentinel, and cross ramp shots all look like a helluva lotta fun!”
“*X-Men Evolution theme song in background* hell yes I’m in!!!!!”
Reply