In our first post today, I told you about some never-seen-before pinball action on offer tonight in Newcastle. And now it gets even bigger.

THIS WEEKEND, Pinfest returns to The Caves Beach Hotel, and I genuinely believe it’s Australia’s best pinball event.

I spoke to Robert Denton from Newcastle Pinball Association who seemed blown away by the success of last year’s inaugural event. “We hoped to raise 3 or $4,000 for Hunter SIDS & Kids. But last year exceeded all expectations.. with 7 or 8,000 people across the weekend, and around $7,000 raised for the charity.”

Pinfest 2012 – Sunday crowd (pic by Greg aka ‘ExtraBall’)

This year, there’ll be over 50 pinballs lined up – mostly in collectors “kept lovingly at home” condition. And they’ll all be on ‘freeplay’. Plus for the first time (thanks to sponsor Highway Entertainment) there’ll be arcade machines onsite including classic cocktail (table) games and driving titles.

One of the organisers, Edy ‘Dedrok’ Stephens (whom we profiled last year) has been kind enough to share a likely list of the machines on offer…

Electromechanical machines

• Carnival Queen (Bingo)
• Bank a Ball (Gottlieb)
• Royal Guard (Gottlieb)
• All Star Baseball
• King Tut (Bally) ???
• 2001 (Gottlieb)
• Dealers Choice (Williams)
• Space Race (Recel)
• Jacks Open (Gottlieb)
• Colour Demon
• Tumbleweed

Solid State machines

• Black Jack (Bally)
• Meteor (Stern)
• Supersonic (Bally)
• Paragon (Bally)
• Countdown (Gottlieb)
• Seawitch (Stern)
• Fathom (Bally)
• Spy Hunter (Bally)
• Jungle Lord (Williams)
• Pinball Champ (Zaccaria)
• Time Machine (Zaccaria)
• Black Pyramid (Bally)
• Comet (Williams)
• World Defender (Bell Games)
• Grand Lizard (Williams)
• Police Force (Williams)
• Diner (Williams)
• BOP (Williams)

Digital Dot Matrix machines

• Bugs Bunny (Bally)
• Theatre (Bally)
• Judge Dredd (Bally)
• Last Action Hero (Data East)
• Addams Family (Bally)
• Fish Tales (Williams)
• Maverick (Data East / SEGA)
• Tommy (Data East)
• Terminator 3 (Stern)
• Sopranos (Stern)
• Sharkey’s Shootout (Stern)
• Ripleys (Stern)
• Jurassic Park (Data East)
• Medieval Madness (Williams)
• Cirqus Voltaire (Bally)
• Viper Night Drivin (Sega)
• Getaway (Williams)
• + 5 recent Stern machines from distributor AMD.

Pinfest 2012 – machines by night (pic by Chris Slevin)

Entry is a miniscule $10 per session (adults) or $20 per session for a family.

Session times:

• Saturday 9.30am to 1 pm
• Saturday 2pm to 5.30pm
• Sunday 10am to 3pm

Some of the other features of the event include sales of pinball and arcade machines, a raffle (win a Maverick pinball machine!), parts for sale, merchandise stands, and a Saturday night competition. The latter is likely to attract some really talented players.

I’ll be there Sunday – hope to see you there.

If you weren’t around for last year’s Pinfest, you’ll enjoy our lengthy exclusive feature ‘Pinfest 2012: How one mad idea came to fruition‘.

If you love pinball and live within a few hours of Newcastle (Australia, I add for our UK readers) – get.in.your.car.now.

For the next 50 hours, Newcastle (& nearby Caves Beach) will host more quality pinball action that Australia’s seen in years.

TONIGHT

Want to try Stern’s barely-even announced brand new STAR TREK pinball?
What about a limited edition Wizard of Oz?

If you’d like to be one of the first people in NSW to try them, they’re 2 of 6 games that were unveiled this afternoon at The Commonwealth Hotel in Cooks Hill.

Luke Phillips of LA Games says the full lineup is as follows:

• Wizard of Oz (LE)
• Star Trek (Stern’s latest release)
• AC/DC (fully loaded)
• NBA by Stern (very rare pin)
• Xmen Wolverine (LE)
• Family Guy
• Simpsons Pinball Party

And a short time ago today, he shared the following photo.

A photo of the pinball lineup at The Commonwealth Hotel. Pic by Luke Phillips.

So, will I see you there tonight? Here’s the Cooks Hill Hotel website and a google maps link to get you there.

The Cooks Hill Hotel has a fully licensed bistro with great food (I’ve been there before) and the area is kid friendly too.
Luke says this pinball setup is a permanent fixture at the pub, and “There’ll be 5-6 pins there at all times.”

So now, the Cooks Hill Hotel joins Pizza & Pinball in Broadmeadow as two permanent high-quality pinball venues in the Newcastle area.

And for another, bigger pinball experience this weekend… there’s Pinfest 2013.
Read all about it (including the full list of games!) right here.

True story.

Back in 1996, I was living in Tamworth NSW. There, just off the main street was a flight of stairs. Up those stairs was a pool hall. And in that pool hall was a small arcade, with about ten machines. Each had a sign – ‘Beat the all-time highscore, win a can of Coke‘.

Tiger Heli?  “CSSSSSH” (that’s the sound of a can of Coke opening)

Strider?        Nope.
Try again.     Nope.
Try again.     Nope.
Try again.     Nope.
Try again.     Nope.
Try again.     Nope.
Try again.     Nope.
Try again.     “CSSSSSH”

Boy did that Coke taste good.

Oh, did you want to watch the newly-released trailer for the new Strider, due out next year on consoles AND PC?

Can’t wait to play it, and drink a can of Coke to celebrate.

Wow, this has made my day.

One of my favourite songs (+ clips) in years [<– language warning, also scenes of thrift shops] has been parodied by a New Zealand Group and turned into a lovesong to the Steam Summer Sale (& indie games in general).

They’ve really nailed it.  They even refer to Gabe Newell as ‘grandad’.

Massive thumbs up to Viva La Dirt League for this effort.

Oh, and if the headline hasn’t made it clear already – LANGUAGE WARNING.

Via Cory @ Boing Boing.

Late last year Spanish indie game maker ‘Locomalito’  released his latest ‘big’ game…  The beautifully Ghosts n Goblins-esque Maldita Castilla.

Just prior to the game’s release, I got chatting to ‘Loco’ (real name, unknown) and he told me a bit about the inspiration he’d got from researching Spanish history, characters and landscapes.

For example, the main character is based on El Cid (immortalised in the statue below). He was a well-known Spanish hero, who inspired many myths.

Locomalito had spent some time wandering around Castille and other cities in Spain, photographing buildings and artworks that led to the game’s rather unique look.

Here you can see the obvious inspiration behind the ‘Damned Castle’ the player is seeking to enter.

Even the smallest details in the game are often directly influenced by photos the programmer/artist had taken in his journeys.

The details in the fresco below are hard to make out, but still a close match to the photo on the left.

Finally, here are a few more architecture/detail photos that Locomalito shared and you can easily see styles and details that show up throughout the game.

And of course, the sort of ghoulish adornments you see on Spanish buildings on the right, were a great inspiration for a ‘ghostly/ghoulish’ game like this…

Thanks to Locomalito for sharing these photos and thoughts with us.

If you haven’t yet played Maldita Castilla, grab your free PC download here. As the man says himself, it “pays homage to classic arcade games from 1985-1987 like Ghost’n’Goblins, Tiger Road, Black Tiger, Shinobi, Rygar and Karnov“.

Earlier this year, we celebrated the birthday of a great indie game players/makers resource with a rather popular lookback over it’s past three years.  Now, we bring you news of Simon Kaizen’s latest creation, “Pixel Prospector’s FINEST”.

PPF is a bit like a hall of fame.  Simon’s gone through the 500+ indie games on Pixel Prospector, and whittled it down to 60 amazing games.  It’s more than a simple list though, every game is showcased with a screenshot, trailer, information (developer, genre, release year, price, size).

But that’s not all, you also get the ‘official’  game description from the developer, a mini-review from Pixel Prospector, plus links to written and video reviews.

AND – Simon’s put together a pretty amazing Youtube video with snippets of the first 60 games.

The great thing about PPF is you can quickly go through it via platform or genre, and see all those ‘essential’ games that you somehow missed the first time around. It’s also a great resource when you’re trying to introduce someone to indie gaming and you just want to show them a few killer titles. (The video I linked to earlier would be ideal.)

Pixel Prospector’s FINEST promises to add 2 more ‘worthy’ games to the list each week.  If this collection is tightly curated, I can see it become a real badge of honour to be selected. Maybe the 2012 indie equivalent of the Zzap!64 ‘Sizzler’?

You can explore the site yourself here:   Pixel Prospector’s FINEST

Blah blah blah “too many bundles…”  HANG ON A SEC, THIS ONE’S AWESOME!
Bundle in a Box (“the only thematic bundle around”) went all ‘adventure’ games last time, but this time it’s SPACE GAMES and it’s a CRACKER.

Pay 99 cents or more and you get 5 pretty fantastic games….

Death Ray Manta (PC/Mac)

Rob Fearon’s brand new game debuts exclusively in this bundle.  Death Ray Manta is the BEST DRM EVER.

It also happens to be an arena shooter that knows its history. From Robotron to Llamatron to Geometry Wars and on, Death Ray Manta keeps one eye on what works, what’s worked and tries to explore it all. Quickly. In a condensed few moments of pleasure. What’s more, it is a videogame about flashing lights in your face.
Very, very, pretty lights.

Space Giraffe (PC/Steam)

Jeff Minter’s Space Giraffe is pitched as “the boldest evolution of the trance-shooter”, With 200 levels of trance-tastic action, beautiful abstract graphics that respond to audio input, two remixes of the same game, and deep gameplay that rewards strategic and tactical play.

Space Giraffe is accessible enough to entertain a novice player, but also deep enough to satisfy the arcade expert.

Stuart Campbell (World of Stuart) said it was “one of the best games released in 2008, at any price”.
Kieron Gillen (RPS) called it “simply one of the finest works in Minter’s long career”.

The Wreckless (PC/Mac/Desura)

The Wreckless is a single player space combat simulator reminiscent of “old school” space combat games like “Tie Fighter” and “Elite”, with a sixteen level fully voiced campaign and a simulator that lets the player create their own custom skirmishes.

The missions comprise a variety of different styles including bombing missions, dogfights against tough AI opponents and escort missions. The player can research different fighter crafts to use for each scenario, choosing different fighter/bomber combinations to compliment their own play style.

Adam Smith (RPS) called it “…very good..  the nicest surprise I’ll have all month”

Dark Scavenger (PC/ Mac/Desura)

Dark Scavenger is an adventure game that combines strategic turn-based combat with unique point-and-click mechanics. Happily, it features twisted dark humor and dozens of quirky characters.

Filling the role of a powerful space traveler, you find yourself stranded on a mysterious planet in the company of three eccentric, yet resourceful aliens. Will you adopt the problems of this world as your own or will you just save yourself?

Adam Smith of RPS said it was “Weird, creative, frayed around the edges and a little bit soiled in the middle, but rather endearingly clobbered together. I would have loved it if it came out on the Amiga ages ago and would probably still quote bits of it to an uncomprehending world.”

Armalyte (PC).

The official remake of the classic Commodore 64 shmup, with massive boss encounters and 8 tough worlds!

Gameplay has been precisely replicated on the PC thanks to involvement from the original Armalyte developers Dan Phillips and Robin Levy.
The graphics have been specially enhanced for the PC version by Trevor ‘Smila’ Storey and the game features brand new soundtracks by Chris ‘Infamous’ Bailey.

BUGGER THAT FOR A JOKE!  I’M NOT QUOTING RPS EVERY TIME!

Some blog called JustOneMoreGame said it was “A great remake of a C64 classic. Visually & sonically it ticks all the boxes, and there are many moments where the remake goes way beyond a simple ’2010 update’.  The vast majority of old-school shooter fans will love this title. “

Paying above the average price will gain you three more games AND a selection of interactive Armalyte extras.

The ‘extra’ games are:

Sol: Exodus (PC/Steam/Desura)

Suit up and take on the role of the Lieutenant Commander, ace fighter pilot and 2nd in command of the UCS Atlas, as you search for a new home, battle a mysterious
enemy, and rescue humanity from a fiery end in this visually stunning space shooter.

IGN said “It feels like a return to childhood, sitting in an oversized chair battling TIE Fighters with an X-Wing.”

Miner Wars Arena (PC/Mac/Desura)

A fast-paced arcade game inspired by the PC gaming classic, Tunneler, with state-of-the-art top-down 2.5D gameplay in a fully destructible environment.
Enjoy unlimited gameplay variations by adjusting your arena settings, playing skirmishes, fighting at tournaments and even going for some split-screen multiplayer.

GameBanana.com called it “a cute little indie game”. [And hey, how could I resist quoting a site called “GameBanana”! ]

RobotRiot (PC/Mac/Desura)

Robot Riot features 21 action packed levels, tons of enemy types, plenty of gun-turrets and epic bosses, exciting power-ups and weapon-upgrades, classic platform action with unique environmental hazards and a joyous retro style due to its 16bit era pixel art and chiptunes.

RGCD said “It gets RGCD’s seal of approval – it might not be a game for everyone, but for those of you craving a ‘new’ genuine retro gaming experience, you could do a lot worse
than RobotRiot”

And then, there’s the Armalyte Extras…

Armalyte extras (PC)

This lovely collection includes Mix-e-Load, the JukeBox containing the game’s music in what can only be described as an impressive music demo and a brilliantly interactive ‘Making Of’ about the Armalyte box art.

If that’s not enough…  you’re a bloody hard person to please.

And yet – despite being hard to please, you just become pleased at last, when you realise your ‘pay what you want’ money will partly help charity AND help fund an ‘indie dev’ fund AND help unlock extras for all buyers AND give access to exclusive content about KyttaroGames’ own upcoming game for iOS and Android AND…. if you’re one of the top 10 contributors…

OH LOOK – WHY BOTHER WITH MY PITIFUL SUMMARY – WHEN YOU CAN READ IT IN FULL ON THE BUNDLE WEBSITE….  http://bundle-in-a-box.com/

The Bundle-in-a-box SPACE bundle will last for the next 14 days only.
(“Bundles, the final frontier….“)

Wow, this just keeps looking better and better.

Lots of cute ‘game phenomena’ moments (when a character dies, they reappear “flashing” for a few seconds) with game characters (well-known & obscure) from a wide range of eras.

Plus Jane Lynch as herself. Well, actually an FPS heroine – but it’s 98% Jane.

Can’t wait.

There are some great pinball players coming to compete at Pinfest tonight…   Richard (RGR),  Scotty (Cruiserman), Rob (TIN), Mitch (DataBeast), just to name a few.

But what goes on…   in the crazed mind of a top pinball player?

JOMG flipped a few questions to Edy Stevens (aka Dedrok) as he helped setup the machines for this weekend…

Edy Stevens. Pro pinball player.

JOMG:   So Edy, the comp’s on tonight.  Which 3 machines are you most confident on in competition? How far can you get on them?

Hmm…. All depends how it feels / plays on the day. Could be any machine, I don’t really care when it comes to the comp, just “step up and hit it”.

 What’s your history at other pinball competitions?

I’ve had a couple of wins, but I’m happy to consistantly be in the ‘top 8’.

What are your tips for ‘average’ players who’d like to improve their skills?

Find out what way to play best suits you , trap and shoot or flowing play, then practice. Learn the basics; trap, pass and catch shots and practice them.

What’s your best story about playing a game when you were ‘on fire’?

I recently had a theory on how to get big points on TOTAN (Tales of The Arabian Nights). Tried it out on the Virtual Cab and got 4B+, so went into Pizza N Pinball to play the one in there to test the theory, and rolled it (1Billion) on my 1st ball. Theory checked out, but just fell short of 2Billion. 

Some of the games to be featured at Pinfest

Which machine/mode often kicks your butt or intimidates you if it comes up in a comp?

Anything or Mode on AC/DC

What machines do you have at home?

Machines at home ….. TOTAN, Sopranos, Monopoly, LOTR, Guns N Roses, Tommy Pinball Wizard, Frankenstein, Star Trek 25th Anniversary, TMNT, Comet, Gorgar, Time Warp, Lost World, Harlem Globe Trotters, Playboy, Evel Kinevel, Cosmic Princess, Sinbad and DEDPIN (Virtual Cab).  Also a Fish Tales, Hook and WWF floating about somwhere.

Fave pinball ever?

I never really have a favorite , but after having my Judge Dredd for 12 years and recently moving it on to some mates that desperatly wanted one, it would have to be classed as my all time fav, I do miss it so.

Thanks for your time Dedrok.

Edy Stevens is one of the many generous pinball owners who’ve supplied machines to Pinfest. See him in the competition tonight, at Caves Beachside Hotel.

December 2011.

After months of work, Chris and Dom Slevin opened their dream business, Pizza n Pinball, in Broadmeadow. (A Newcastle suburb, 2 hours north of Sydney)  The brothers combining their skills in takeaway food, pinball maintenance and of course their love of the silverball. The word was put out via arcade forums, a Facebook page was set up, and the customers started to walk in.

One of those initial customers… was Robert Denton.

Interior, Pizza n Pinball January 2012

Rob’s a keen pinball player – competed at a few competitions – and mates with a few of the local Novocastrian pinball fans. He’s also well-known as the President of the Cardiff Northlakes Chamber of Commerce, and a prominent anti-graffiti campaigner. Soon after Rob visited Pizza n Pinball, he had dinner with his mate, Bill. Talk turned to the subject of pinball and Rob suggested Bill could hold a pinball expo at ‘his place’. And no, I don’t mean his house.

Bill Saddington is a well-known businessman in the Newcastle area. His surname adorns a huge hardware supply business (and its fifty distinctive blue vehicles are a constant presence on local roads). He’s also one of the owners of a large entertainment venue south of Newcastle; the Caves Beachside Hotel. It’s only a few years old, and as potential locations go for a pinball expo, it is world class… if not world-beating. Luckily for local pinball fans – Bill’s answer was “yes”.  But it would take time and a lot of organisation.

June 2012

Pizza n Pinball had been trading for over 18 months; Dom and Chris had built up quite a few ‘regulars’, started to grow the ‘function’ side of the business and held some big pinball events. But they were blisfully unaware of a fateful dinner that happenned so long ago…  in the first weeks of their opening. That was about to change.

Bill Saddington still wanted to get that ‘pinball expo’ idea up and running at last. So he contacted AMD (an Aussie distributor of latest-release pinball machines) in the hope of getting some help to make the event a reality. They gave him a name and a number, for someone who could help. Chris Slevin.

“Ring, ring….   ring, ring…..”

Now, before Chris answers that phone, I’d better point something out for our non-pinball-expo-experienced readers. Pinball events are often held in ‘average’ venues; somewhere affordable, maybe a little bit tired, but a place that does the job. Caves Beachside Hotel doesn’t meet any of those descriptions. Have a look at the photo below.

Exterior, Caves Beachside Hotel

“Ring, ring….   ring, ring…..”

Chris Slevin remembers the call quite well. “It was mid July. Bill called and asked if I’d like to hold a pinball expo at his place. I instantly agreed, as you would. Then – he said it was in 8 weeks time!” Eight! Chris got to work. He and brother Dom advertised a volunteers meeting via the Aussie Arcade forum, and ten people showed up. The Newcastle Pinball Association was formed and the team set to work on gathering machines, organising promotions and so on.

The Slevin boys have been to a number of pinball events before – good and bad – and tried to use that experience to their advantage. “The biggest lesson was to have machines that WORK.” suggests Chris. Variety is also the key. “A mix of different era machines makes for the best lineup – so people play eras they normally don’t have access to.”

Some of the games to be featured at Pinfest

As the weeks rolled by, more and more pieces of the Pinfest puzzle slid into place. The number of pledged pinball machines hit 50, including a recent AC/DC model that will be playable as part of the national AC/DC competition. Chris thinks the lineup will be a real crowd-pleaser. “To have the latest machine X-men machine will be good, to give people the chance to see and play it. But I love that there will be something from the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, 90’s to now for the public to play because it gives the whole family something they remember.”

The inaugaural Pinfest Caves Beach will include commercial stands (pinball books, parts, etc) and on Saturday night from 6.30, there’ll be an open tournament which is also on the IFPA calender.  This afternoon, as this post goes live, the last of the 50 machines will be moved into place – ready for the crowds tomorrow.

More games to be featured at Pinfest

So what’s Chris Slevin’s message for visitors who might not have played pinball in a while….?  “Come along and relive a misspent youth! (laughs)  This is a chance to see and play a range of pinball machine from all eras and you will fall back in love with the silverball.”

Pinfest will run 10-5 tomorrow and 10-4 Sunday at Caves Beachside Hotel.  2 hours north of Sydney.