You can play a pinball machine forever and not have a pinball hit at a more perfect angle than this. Look at it bounce back and forth and back and forth and back and forth forever between a bumper and kicker. If only every pinball game was so easy. According to YouTube user lilmul123, this went on for a few minutes before the bumper’s solenoid burned out.
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Jimmy aka 6kyubi6 made a working Star Wars-themed pinball machine using LEGO. Aside from its moving parts and different colored lights, the machine also has various minifigs and figures of Star Wars characters, including Luke, Darth Vader, Chewie, Artoo and even Jabba the Hutt.
Jimmy made the machine for a Brickpirate contest. Here’s a shot of the machine all lit up:
There’s a short video of the machine in action below, as well as more images of the pinball machine on his Flickr page.
[via The Brothers Brick]
Before Pac-Man, before Pong, before Space Invaders there was pinball. And it was good.
While we were in Las Vegas this week for CES 2014 we had the distinct pleasure of stopping by the Pinball Hall of Fame, an amazing space dedicated to all things electromechanical. I spoke with Tim Arnold, Director of Things And Stuff (or, alternately, Stuff And Things) who has made it his life’s mission to maintain some amazing amusements.
Arnold has a collection amassed over many years. He was – and still is – a trained Bally’s pinball technician and he has hundreds of machines in storage that he has amassed in fire sales back at the tail end of the pinball craze. He rebuilds many of the machines from scratch, using good parts from bad machines to make one uber machine that anyone can play in his nondescript museum.
Arnold has it all: Gottliebs, Ballys, Midways, and more. He has standup arcade games, as well, including amazing electromechanical games like Bally Road Runner, one of the first arcade games to use transistor controlled electronics. He also has a mini workshop in back where he repairs the old machines, keeping them in working condition even 60 years after they rolled off the factory floor.
There’s a lot of history – and a lot of fun – to be found in the Pinball Hall of Fame. Arnold is a tinkerer and a dedicated maker. He recommended that young makers learn to build things, not just mash things together. By being good with your hands, he said, you ensure your job and your skills are always in demand.
Visiting a place like the Pinball Hall of Fame makes you feel in touch with the long arc of history that led from the first bells and gears of the original pinball parlors to the ultra-realistic game machines of today. It’s mind-boggling to think that we moved from the pinball machine – essentially a glorified gas pump – to the arcade machine to the home console in a less than 20 years. Plus the games are really, really fun.
TechCrunch Makers is a video series featuring people who make cool stuff. If you’d like to be featured, email us!.
If you have a spare $5,299.99(USD) you can buy this sweet new Star Trek Pinball machine for your man cave or replica Starship bridge. It looks pretty fun and your goal is to destroy the U.S.S. Vengeance. If you didn’t like Into Darkness, this will probably be a much better experience than what you saw on screen.
This is Stern’s first all LED illuminated pinball game. It has all the requisite lights and sounds of course, as well as phaser flashes and photon torpedoes.
There are six missions for casual players and 18 missions for those already familiar with Star Trek and pinball. Along the way, you will unlock specials, collect bonuses like a series of accolades called “The Captain’s Chair”. It looks like a fun table that will offer hours of play.
All of your favorite old enemies are here, like: Khan, Nero, Klingons, and the Narada. While it’s not the first Star Trek pinball machine – there have been several before this – it’s the first one from the J.J. Abrams universe. I’m disappointed by the lack of a single tribble however. Would it have killed them to sneak one in?
Other features include:
14 stand-up targets; stainless steel shooter lane ramp; two wide-entrance combo ramps; warp feedback ramp fed by 3rd flipper, left eject kicker lock; four balls; three flippers; three high-speed pop bumpers, two high-powered slingshot mechanisms, two electric gates in orbit lanes; and a Star Trek Starfleet Pro translite backglass.
Wealthy Trekkies will want to pre-order one now. It will be available in February from Entertainment Earth, or you can buy one right now from Stern Pinball.
Is there no end to milking the Star Wars franchise? I guess the correct answer would be “No”, and fans of the space opera would not take any other reply anyways. Here we are with something for pinball fans – not the physical table, but the digital one that offers a whole lot more possibilities without the risk of a mechanical breakdown – in the form of the Star Wars Episode VI: The Return of the Jedi pinball table.
This particular pinball table will be centered around the events of the beloved film, where it will b set in the forest of the Endor moon, and you as the pinball player will join forces with the Rebel Alliance, keeping Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Chewbacca, Princess Leia, Lando Calrissian, R2-D2, and C-3PO company in a concerted effort to bring about the downfall of the Sith while restoring peace in the galaxy – without a father-son combo, of course. Check out the trailer above to figure out whether the game is worth your time or not, but with a slew of interactive 3D objects that were inspired by the film such as an AT-ST, Speeder bike, Death Star II hologram, TIE fighters, Tydirium shuttle and a Shield generator, chances are you cannot resist.
Star Wars Episode VI: The Return Of The Jedi Pinball Table original content from Ubergizmo. 
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I can remember growing up back in the 80s, there were plenty of pinball machines in arcades alongside the video games. I was always more interested in video games, but there’s no denying that a noisy pinball machine with flippers and giant ball bearings rolling around is tons of fun. It’s hard to find pinball machines these days, but there are plenty of digital versions of pinball machines available.
If you’re a digital pinball wizard and like Star Wars, a new pack of pinball tables called Star Wars Pinball: Balance of the Force is coming for a number of gaming systems. The game offers three new Star Wars themed pinball tables to play through. Players will aid Star Wars characters including Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Chewbacca Lando Calrissian, and more. There are also tables themed for bad guys such as Darth Vader.
The new tables will be available for the Xbox, PS3, PS Vita, Nintendo Wii U, iOS, Android, Windows 8, Mac OS, and the Kindle Fire HD later this fall.
In May of 1976 in New York City, Roger Sharpe watched nervously as city council members piled into a Manhattan courtroom. Reporters and camera operators had already begun setting up, eagerly anticipating the proceedings ahead. Roger, a young magazine writer for GQ and the New York Times among others, did not expect this kind of attention. He knew lots of people, from bowling-alley-hanging teens to the Music & Amusement Association, were depending on him, but didn’t realize the whole country would be watching. Roger had been selected for this particular task not only for his knowledge and expertise, but for his legendary hand-eye coordination. He was there to prove that this was a game of skill, not chance. He was there to overturn the ban. He was there to save the game of pinball.
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Thanks to videogames, pinball has been relegated to a niche. But it still has its fans, some so addicted to the machines that they hang entire pinball playfields on their walls as decoration. Jeremy Williams and his friend invented Airfield, an LED kit that makes mounted or hung playfields come alive.
Airfield runs on a custom circuit board designed by Williams. It comes with 38 light cables – each with 2 LEDs at the end – plus all the materials you need to attach the board and cables to the rear of your playfield. Williams also commissioned an easy to use LED sequence program that you can find on his website. When you’re happy with the sequence you made, download it then install it to the Airfield via its microSD port (the Airfield kit already comes with a microSD card).
Skip to about 2:55 in the video below for another look at Airfield in action:
You can buy Airfield for $219 (USD) from Ledseq. I hope future models of the Airfield will have the option to add sound effects.
[via Doobybrain]
One of the most iconic games from Nintendo’s history has got to be Duck Hunt as not only was it often bundled with the console, but it also showed off the ability of the console’s light gun peripheral, although it was one of the only games to use the accessory. That’s why when we saw somebody payed homage to the classic NES game in the form of a pinball machine, we had to feature it.
The Duck Hunt Pinball Machine was a labor of love by the folks at Skit-B Pinball as it took a little less than a year to complete as they modified a Williams Valiant pinball machine to create it. Many of the sights and sounds that you remember so well from the game have been included in the pinball machine, and yes, that damn dog is still there, laughing at you every chance he gets. (more…)
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Power Glove Oven Mitt Keeps You Cooking ‘So Bad’, Skyrim Will Not Receive Additional DLC As Team Will Be ‘Moving On’, 
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The crew of Skit-B Pinball made this wonderful homage to one of the most recognizable NES games, Duck Hunt. It may not be as complicated or have fancy lighting effects and ramps like other modern pinball machines, but the craftsmanship is so good that it looks like an official Nintendo product.
As if the wonderful art and parts weren’t awesome enough, the machine borrows gameplay and graphical elements from Duck Hunt. You have to hit the two orange and white circles in the middle of the playfield to fire at the ducks while some of the holes act as score multipliers. You get feedback by way of an LCD monitor installed in the backbox. And yes, if you lose your ball, that troll of a dog will appear to mock you.
The fact that they built the machine in their spare time makes me want to cry during my upcoming spare time.
[Gameroom Junkies via Arcade Heroes & Destructoid]
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