Joshua Henderson is a young boy, and he plays the silver ball. At a time when most of his contemporaries would probably rather play games on high-tech consoles like the PlayStation 3, Henderson is an expert in a shrinking breed of gaming: pinball. Though only one major pinball machine maker remains, competition among the elite remains fierce.
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- All I want for Christmas is … a Super Nintendo!
- gizmnoic shows how it’s done on his Family Guy Pinball
- gizmnoic bring us the game room of Keith A. from New Hampshire
- Pinball wizard lights up boards
- Pinball still stirs wizardry at GameWorks tournament
- Last of the pinball wizards
- Big man vs. machine - Todd MacCulloch’s passion for pinball
- P3 Pinball Tournament announced for January at Eight on the Break.
- Another P3 Pinball Tournament announced for February at Castle Video.
- Cupids & Canines at PAPA this February.
- All above events are WPPR eligible.

Here’s one of the better articles ever written about pinball. ESPN Page 2’s Kieran Darcy covers the PAPA 11 World Pinball Championships in “The Wizard of Salem“.
Part One
The 2008 New Jersey Pinball Open at Eight on the Break in Dunellen, NJ. Competitors attempt to qualify to be of the top six players that will advance to the double elimination playoffs. Also, One-Handed Mini-Tournament action on “Sharkey’s Shootout”.
Part Two
More qualifying action. Plus, “Tommy-Mode” (blinders) Mini-Tournament on Medieval Madness.
Part Three
Double elimination playoffs begin on “Terminator 3″. Ted K. gets a “mode stack” going.
Part Four
Double elimination playoffs continue with “Whirlwind” and “Spider-Man”.
Part Five
Double elimination playoffs continue with “Monster Bash”, “The Shadow”, and “Family Guy”. Ted K. earns the Monster Bash Wizard Mode and becomes the new Bash Champion. Andrew D. and Michael F. have a great match on “The Shadow”. Andrew also has a great “mode stack” on “Family Guy”.
Part Six
Double elimination playoffs continue with “Terminator 3″. Jory “mode stacks” Multiball and RED. Also, a flawless video mode. Winner is guaranteed at least a 2nd place finish.
Part Seven
Double elimination playoffs continue with Part 2 of the “Terminator 3″ match. Assault mode is achieved. Winner is guaranteed at least a 2nd place finish.
Part Eight
Double elimination playoffs end with “Pinball Pool”. The winner of the match takes the “Pinball Pool” machine home. Jory R. makes the best save of the tournament.
Eight on the Break in Dunellen, New Jersey will hold the New Jersey Pinball Open on August 9th, 2008.
The following is from Brian Smith of P3 Tournaments:
Come join us for a full days worth of pinball tournament fun at Eight
on the Break. This is a great opportunity to practice before PAPA
the weekend after.This format will be very similar to the tournaments we run in
Allentown and Rochester. There is a time period set aside for
qualifying and then a final double elimination round.Eight on the Break is a fun arcade full of pinball machines, video
games, pool tables and includes a great snack bar. Admission is FREE
and tournament registration is only $5. All games will be on coin
drop. Price for each tournament entry is $10 per attempt.Prizes? What I didn’t mention the prizes yet. We will be giving
away a Gottlieb Pinball Pool Pinball Machine or $500 cash to the top
winner! Total prize pool will be around $800. A great way to pay
for that trip to PAPA!Registration is NOW OPEN and we recommend everyone pre-register
online. We have a limited number of registrations open and pre-
registering reserves your spot in the tournament. Plus it is very
important for planning reasons.http://www.p3tournament.com (and click on NJ Tournament)
Looking forward to seeing everyone again at Eight on the Break this
summer and look for the Monthly Masters which will be returning in
September.Brian Smith
P3Tournament
So come on out, if you are in the Jersey area, for some intense pinball competition.

Last weekend’s PIN-MAINE-IA event was one of the great pinball happenings of this year. Great fun was had by all. This event will continue to grow as long as it has the fantastic support of people like “BallyMan” John Reuter and the Boston Pinball Association. PIN-MAINE-IA, onward and upward!
Team “Wicked Shimmy” (Trent A., Todd M., Ed Z., and myself) won the Pine-Brawl event. I was able to get enough WPPR (World Pinball Player Ranking) points to raise my world ranking up to #16.
IFPA (International Flipper Pinball Association) President Josh Sharpe won the New England Championship to claim the #3 World ranking.
Next event: The FSPA (Free State Pinball Association) pre-PAPA Flip-Off on July 26, 2008 at John’s Place in Fairfax, Virginia. BE THERE!!!
EDIT: YouTube video link changed to include the Eight on the Break Tourney info.
STERN, Inc. owner Gary Stern and pinball historian Roger Sharpe are interviewed on NBC Nightly News on the game of pinball. They talk about the STERN factory, what goes into making a pinball machine and a little bit on pinball’s past (and hopefully, future).



















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