The TWIPY Awards Return!

Song of the Week

What the heck do you choose to go along with an announcement like the return of the TWIPY Awards? How about a banger track from one of my favorite indie hip-hop collectives, Doomtree?

Last week, we featured another Minnesotan musician, Har Mar Superstar, who you may recognize as the featured karaoke singer in this music video for Bangarang. Here, we’re mostly treated to some dorky dance moves in support of a truly collective effort from the individual members of Doomtree, Dessa, Cecil Otter, P.O.S., Sims, Mike Mictlan, Paper Tiger, and Lazerbeak. 

I love the idea of a collective group like Doomtree, a group of talented solo artists in their own right coming together to create something new that plays to individual strengths in service of a larger creative goal. In some ways, it feels like what we’re attempting to do with the TWIPY awards this year (more on this later), which is partly why it felt appropriate to make this the pick for Song of the Week.

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Pinball News of the Week

Get Ready for The Pinball Community Awards (AKA The TWIPYs), Coming February 2025

This is one of those things that, much like the Pinball Media Mixer, wasn’t on my bingo card to do again. But just like the Pinball Media Mixer, people kept asking for it. And like the Pinball Media Mixer, we’ve been able to pull together a talented team that can make it happen while keeping things fun for everyone.

I don’t know who planted the seed of the TWIPYs coming back first, but I’ll go ahead and give Jamie Burchell the credit. If nothing else, he was the first to plant the seed and generously offer to roll up his sleeves to help make it happen (alongside a whole bunch of the Wormhole crew).

Credit also goes to the rest of the TWIPY planning committee who jumped in with us: Erin Seiden, Erika S., Rob Rath, Aaron Davis, Ryan Gratzer, Will Oetting, Erin Winick Anthony, Ralph Ronzio, and Ian Jacoby. This isn’t happening without their help.

I’m incredibly excited about what I’ve been describing as a soft refresh of the TWIPYs. Our goal is to preserve much of what people liked about the original shows while taking a few new creative risks and pushing things in different directions.

Listen or watch the latest conversation on The Wormhole Pinball Podcast for more details, or view the official announcement on twipys.com.

The Pinball Community Awards (aka The TWIPYs) will take place live at The Wormhole in Houston on February 22nd, 2025, alongside a full weekend of pinball events. Limited tickets for the live show are available now. 

For those who can’t join us in person, we’ll be streaming on The Wormhole YouTube channel so that everyone can join in on the fun.

See you there!

Homebrew Pinball Machine Heaven at Pinball Expo 2024

Okay, file this one under “better late than never”. We’re wrapping up our coverage of Pinball Expo 2024 with a roundup of some of our favorite homebrew machines (that author Matt Owen was able to play). Highlights included Tony Hawk’s Pro Pinball, Pokemon Indigo League, Borderlands 2, and others.

Updated Venom Tutorial

No new tutorial this week, but Noah Crable did make a bunch of changes to the original Venom guide he wrote when the title first launched. Now that the code has developed and he’s had more time on the table, he’s got some adjustments to his recommended strategy to share. If Venom is in your regular competitive rotation, be sure to check it out!

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, Scott writes about Offworld Arcade.

My most admirable quality is that I am originally from the frosty mitten of Michigan. When asked which part, I will claim Detroit, but the truth of it is that I am from the suburbs. Detroit just sounds cooler. And it IS cool. This is a place where, in the early 2000s, you could wander into a gigantic empty building and start blasting techno music for a crowd of sweaty people (also from the suburbs) that were dressed entirely in black. The Eastern Market, evolving from an 1800s wood and hay trading post to a longstanding artistic hub, ranked among the most delightful spots for that ritual. Now it mostly showcases spectacular yarn art displays. So, imagine my thrill to learn that a full-fledged arcade has knit itself into the fabric of art galleries and restaurants that use sustainable ingredients.

Offworld Arcade opened in early December 2024 and is waiting around to slap you in the face (politely and with love in its heart) with 20 pinball machines. This is a big deal, everyone! This is now the largest pinball spot in Detroit proper. One used to have to drive 45 minutes to Ann Arbor for this kind of luxury. Offworld also offers a variety of arcade machines that they claim are “a little rough around the edges” and encourage you to “use the kickplates once in a while.” So, that’s fun? The arcade also operates as a gallery (of course) and community workspace. Many have claimed that pinball machines themselves are a work of art. The backglass, the playfield, the garish custom toppers… will they be asked to compete with the graffiti art of the owner’s closest friends? It’s too soon to tell.

As we enter the cold winter months, let us all say a prayer for Michigan, a place that gets snow worse than most. For those of us in the Great Lake State, it’s time to zip up those coats, warm up our Dodge Neons, and make the grim pilgrimage up I-75 to old Detroit. The only Baywatch in Michigan is waiting for you in the Eastern Market.

Offworld Arcade is located at 1420 E Fisher Service Dr, Detroit, MI 48207. Enter through Tocororo (the restaurant next to it).

Offworld Arcade
1420 E Fisher Service Dr, Detroit, MI 48207
Website

Links of the Week

• If you missed out on the First Edition of our Roger Sharpe Action Figure, friends of the newsletter The Electric Playground have you covered. They are running a Holiday Topper Survey, and those who complete by 12/7 will have a chance to win one of the First Edition copies. Take the survey here.

• Speaking of things that run through 12/7, we’re still offering 25% off paid subscriptions to This Week in Pinball. All current and new paid subscribers will be eligible for an upcoming $100 Pinball Life gift card giveaway. Get the deal.

• There’s a new pinball game coming to the Playdate handheld system.

• Enjoyed this read about students at CSUN (California State University) exploring the joys of competitive pinball.

• Facebook group Pinball Enthusiasts made some minor waves by officially banning the use of AI-generated images, which, while admirable, sounds like a moderation nightmare!

• I almost always try to catch up with the Pinball Magazine & Pinball News PINCast. Usually, I find that if my takes on the news align with theirs, I’m mostly on the right track. Anyway, listen this month for an interview with Jack Guarnieri, who offers some more insight into Jersey Jack’s release of the Pinball XP system.

• LoserKids had a great conversation with Spooky Pinball’s Bug about the release of their newest game, Evil Dead.

Poll of the Week

Last Week’s Poll Results

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