CAL Extreme 2010 Pinball Tourney Modern Finals – Dr. Who from Randy Elwin on Vimeo.

Via TiltWarning:

Two time defending World Pinball Champion Keith Elwin at California Extreme earlier this month on Dr. Who versus Jim Belsito. Spark behind TourneyCam is coming courtesy Randy Elwin of Pinball 101 fame.

Seeing this video made me smile. You could actually have commentators do play-by-play during competition, if we had this perspective. I was watching this wishing I could do some sort of play-by-play and strategy talk with a Telestrator. Forget the EVO tournaments, lets live stream THIS.

Just think how much commentators would help legitimize pinball as a sporting event. Viewers would actually be able to see (and hopefully understand) what we PinHeads are talking about when we discuss whether Jim B. should have continued to go for Sonic Booms or advance toward multi-ball.

                          

Via Just Push Start

                          

Via Ubergizmo:

Just because you’ve got a pinball emulator running doesn’t mean that it has to be confined to your boring old beige PC box. If you’re good with your hands, you can always do what this person did, and come up with a 1/3-scale pinball machine, dubbed the Hot Touch Arcade. This design saw the emulator packed into the pinball machine, and is powered by an Intel Atom processor, NVIDIA graphics card, and runs on top of Windows XP. The pinball surface is displayed on the 19-inch 16:9 LCD display, and its creator has even popped in physical shooter, flipper buttons, along with a coin acceptor. If you’ve got nothing to do during the holidays, this might be an interesting project to emulate (pun intended).

Via Ubergizmo:

                          

Ed Zeltmann (1st), Sean Grant (2nd), Frank Romero (3rd), Jim Fordham (4th)

Last Saturday, 25 competitors battled it out for the New Jersey Pinball Open Championship at Eight on the Break in Dunellen NJ. The National Pinball League (NPL) chose to run the qualification rounds as if it were a Monthly Masters event. At about 5:00 PM the top 4 groups (16 players) advanced to the playoff rounds. The top 8 players started in the winner’s bracket for double elimination play while the remaining 8 players started in the losers bracket for single elimination play. Each match was best two games out of 3, and if a third game was necessary it was a 2-ball game.

In the end, the winner was Ed Zeltmann, who went undefeated in the playoff rounds. His victory will give him at least 25 World Pinball Player Ranking points which will raise his world ranking considerably.

Jim Fordham, NPL New Jersey State Champion

Also at stake was the NPL New Jersey State Championship. Jim Fordham won the title since he was the highest finishing player from New Jersey. The top 8 players from New Jersey will be invited to the NPL Regional Championship later this year as will the top 8 players from each of the other State Championships.

Additional notes about the tournament:

• The format worked out extremely well. We were able to get in 7 or 8 Monthly Masters rounds, have each playoff match as a best two out of 3, and we still finished the competition before 9:30 PM.
• After the first two rounds, I was dead last and yet I still managed to make the top 8 by a fraction of a point.
• There usually are a bunch of older, non-working arcade cabinets in the pinball area. The Break moved those cabinets for the tournament so we could fit an extra game in there, and have a more manageable space for everyone to play and move about the room. I hope those cabs never return, or maybe I could at least take that Neo-Geo cab that was there, if it’s working of course.
• Even though the heat and humidity were close to unbearable, the pinball games themselves held up quite well with no major breakdowns.

                          

Another unrelated pinball pic

Via Chris Newsom:

Announcing:

                          

John Kosmal informs viewers about the Michigan Pinball Expo.

Via MyFoxDetroit

The Michigan Pinball Expo attracts people from all over the world. This year, seven countries have confirmed to play pinball in Michigan July 8 through July 11. Michigan Pinball Expo’s John Kosmal tells viewers all about the event presented by Environment by Design on Fox 2 News Mornings. Over 100 pinball machines will be at the Oakland Center at Oakland University in Rochester. Players pay one admission price that covers pinball for the day. Players can also enter into tournaments by paying an entry fee for a chance to win the title of Michigan Pinball Champion, or for the kids, Wizard in Training. Full size arcade pinball machines will be for sale at the event.

 

                          

Register now!

The 2010 New Jersey Pinball Open, sanctioned by the National Pinball League, will happen on July 17, 2010 at Eight on the Break in Dunellen, NJ. The format will be a Monthly Masters style event until 6:00 PM. Then, the top groups will have the advantage of double elimination, and the bottom groups will go into single elimination for the split bracket finals. This tournament will run in the “Fast Tournament” format, which simply means no holding a ball for more than 5 seconds in single or multiball play. That’s right, holders and trappers, stay on your toes and play the freaking game!

These pins are currently running at The Break:

1. Star Wars: Episode 1
2. FunHouse
3. Attack from Mars
4. Addams Family
5. Monster Bash
6. Iron Man
7. Johnny Mnemonic
8. Lord of the Rings
9. Fish Tales

Since The Break is an active arcade, this listing is subject to change. Games are swapped out from time to time. Recently, Johnny Mnemonic replaced Demolition Man in the lineup, and Fish Tales replaced Road Show. Also, extra machines may be made available for play at this special event.

All tournament games are on coin drop, which is a reason why it will only cost you $20.00 to register for the tournament.

Registration is HIGHLY recommended, as it saves your spot in the tournament. It is possible that there will be NO remaining registration available the day of the show, so PLEASE pre-register.

                          

I smell Ultrapin.

                          

I hope they do a World Cup Soccer episode.

                          

Special thanks to Jeff Parsons

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Also, the full results from World Pinball Player Rankings

                          

Via WCSH6

Pinball was a real hit in Gorham this weekend. It was Pin-Maine-ia 4, the New England Pinball Championship. John Reuter held the event in his basement. He owns more than 100 pinball machines. About half of them are at his home. The rest are at friends’ houses. More than 50 people took part in this event, where the top prize was $375. The champion, Steven Bowden, says his real prize is the camaraderie of meeting fellow pinball players.