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.

                          

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.

                          

Here are the standings for all participants in the 2010 JPA PinGolf Tournament. I look forward to doing it again next League season which starts in early September. Many thanks to all who played.

1st Jim Fordham
2nd Sanjay Shah
3rd Kevin Smigel
4th Ed Zeltmann
5th Paul Drabik
6th (TIE) Steven Bowden
6th (TIE) Frank Romero
8th Koi Morris 
9th Mike Field
10th Joe Oesterling

                          

Spring 2010 JPA season ends on May 26, 2010

                          

Click here for the complete standings [PDF]

Thanks to the recent sponsorship of the tournament by Jim F. and more entries, the PinGolf Prize Pool is now at $125.00 as of today. It looks like Whitewater is becoming the easiest game of the five to get a hole-in-one as Paul D. scores an “ace” in his entry. Updated standings can be found at the Jersey Pinball Association PinGolf web page.

Click here to go to the JPA PinGolf page

                          

Spring 2010 JPA season started on March 10, 2010

Click here for the complete standings [PDF]

The entries have started to come in for the Jersey Pinball Association’s Spring 2010 PinGolf Tournament. Plus two people have confirmed a sponsorship so the prize pool will increase again soon. We also saw the first hole-in-one which was achieved by Sanjay S. on Whitewater. Initially, players felt the target scores were to high to reach. Soon they found that, if they obtained and use their extra balls properly, the scores are in fact reachable. I will make an effort to post information on the JPA PinGolf Tournament on rec.games.pinball as well as on the 8 on the Break Facebook page and Twitter. Hopefully, this will foster more participation in this tournament.

Click here to go to the JPA PinGolf page

                          

The Jersey Pinball Association is beginning a new season of competitive pinball play this Wednesday, March 10. Among the games available are: Star Trek: The Next Generation, Whitewater, Demolition Man, Monster Bash, Fish Tales, FunHouse, The Addams Family, Star Wars: Episode One, and Attack from Mars. Along with traditional league play, there will be another side tournament in the style of “Pinball Golf” where you have up to ten balls to reach a target score. Each entry builds up a cash jackpot which I will award at the end of the season. PinGolf replaces the Gauntlet from last year. I hope that many players, from inside and outside of the JPA League, will try to qualify for the PinGolf Final so that there will be a huge jackpot prize pool.

Read more about it here.

                          

Gauntlet Tournament by FunWithBonus
Create a custom tee shirt on Zazzle

Presenting… the official Jersey Pinball Association Gauntlet Tournament T-shirt. The tournament sponsors will each receive one of these shirts at the beginning of the Spring 2010 league season. I would like to take time to congratulate the winners of the JPA Gauntlet tournaments: Andrew Drabik – winner of the Spring 2009 tournament, and Jim Fordham – winner of the Fall 2009 tournament. I also would like to thank those players who sponsored the tournament: Koi Morris, Jim Fordham and Ed Zeltmann. Next season there will most likely be a PinGolf style tournament in addition to traditional league play. I’m looking forward to next season’s competition. For those of you who are interested, the Jersey Pinball Association meets on Wednesdays for 10 weeks in the Spring and in the Fall. The next season will begin in early March, and new players are always welcome.

                          

Arcade Hunters

8 on the Break

Castle Video Part 1 | Part 2

Before there was Grand Theft Auto there was… Death Race! Videogame violence indeed.

Star Fox in Iraq

Do a barrel roll! “Fighting terrorists is hard enough without a frog yelling at you.” (CollegeHumor)
Jersey Pinball Association Gauntlet

The JPA Gauntlet jackpot increases again, and we have a new game replacing Fish Tales:  Whitewater. The goal for this game is 20 Million + Make a “Multi Millions” ramp shot for 4 Million.


Inside Akihabara

Videogame mecca of Japan


Once Upon a Pixel

“What if Katamari Damacy were a hard-boiled comic book?” (Destructoid)


Pacific Pinball Expo 2009

“Clips of the show, pin-tourneys, SF Bay area. For the best pinball tourney tips visit http://www.pinballvideo.com/”


Totally Rad Show

Time-lapse of The Totally Rad Show’s 24 Hour Gaming Marathon, benefiting the Texas Children’s Hospital, fighting pediatric cancer.


Video Game Dioramas

“Video game geeks are a creative bunch — especially those capable of creating artwork depicting characters and places most people over the age of 40 would never recognize. How do you take your game to the next level (pun intended)? Build fantastic dioramas of scenes from the best games ever made.” (Bitmob)

                          

• League information

• The League has nine game including:  Spider-Man, Revenge from Mars, Addams Family, and more.

• Can you run through The Gauntlet?