The single most important thing about Pintastic NE are of course the pinball machines that people bring for others to play. The various pinball clubs (There were 4 at the convention) all brought their own machines for their club rooms. The extra ball lounge consists of games brought by Gabe D’Annunzio (whose interview will be the final Pintastic blog post I make in this series) and I’ve already talked about Tycoon Pinball out of NH and the games they brought.
But when it comes down to sheer volume of games EMP Pinball (Electromagnetic Pinball Museum) annually knocks it out of the park
You really need to go to Pawtucket and check them out: I never got a chance to talk to Michael & Emily this year as they were even more flat out than normal but as I mentioned in this video there are plenty of such interviews by me over the last decade that you can find. (Here is one from Pintastic 2021)
But one thing that you don’t see as much from EMP are the brand new games and that’s where the vendors who sell those new games come in. I talked to Matt one of those vendors. He just purchased Pixels and Pinball who had a bunch of new machines:
The intrinsic part of every Pintastic is gameplay so lets take a look at the actual gameplay of three new machines and one old one:
First let’s start with the new King Kong Game from Stern
This game surprised me. I didn’t expect to enjoy it as much as I did, there were plenty of nice design features and shots and the more I saw it the more it seemed playable. It’s definitely worth your time.
Here is the trailer:
Next let’s take Dune from Barrels of Fun:
I found the design odd, and frankly my gameplay didn’t improve on balls 2 & 3 as we played a three player game. It was usually full but it’s a ramp game and I’m not big on ramp games. If you’re into the movie it’s worth a view but it’s not my cup of tea
Here is the trailer:
Next here is a blast from the past, Ace High from 1957 from Gottlieb
These games get a lot of play on day three when you have every machine full. You don’t get to the current pinball without these old games like this: It’s fun and great as an intro for kids.
Finally let’s finish with what I thought was the best new game of Pintastic Yukon Yeti from Turner Pinball:
I mentioned how much I liked the artwork in a previous video and the gameplay is just as good as the artwork. A lot of interesting shots and features that get more interesting as you play. I would have liked to play more but there were two drawback.
There was only one copy of the game at Pintastic
As the next video shows everyone else liked this game as much as I did:
Bottom line this game is as good as people think and it’s worth a trip to Tycoon Pinball in Manchester NH to play it.
The Trailer:
I should point out that while I don’t have gameplay for the new Beetlejuice, Harry Potter or Pokemon machines I did play them here are my quick takes
First Beetlejuice from spooky pinball
Beetlejuice looks good & has the feel of the movie but for some reason it didn’t really ring my chimes. Can’t really say way I found myself passing up chances to play it. From what I saw of the response however I was clearly in the minority.
and it doesn’t get cooler than this:
Here is the official trailer
Pokémon
I had a chance to play this a few times, there were lines but also quite a few of the machine there. The design itself reminds me of the games of the 70’s it’s very retro and very simple as if the primary audience are young kids who are into Pokémon who might not be into pinball. Put simply the game plays like the TV show and is all about catching Pokémon. It’s simple, it’s clean and with the uploads allowing them to add more Pokémon to the game I suspect it will be selling for a long time.
Frankly it’s nice to have a game with a simple rule set. Well done.
Here is the promo
Finally Harry Potter from Jersey Jack
I was surprised there was no Harry Potter in the Extra Ball lounge and there didn’t seem to be as many as I expected in the place so I only got to play it once. This is a deep game a VERY deep game. I suspect I will need to play it a whole lot more to understand it better but from the time I did play it I can honestly say this. I really got the feel of the movies playing this game. It’s design fits the subject perfectly and it seems to have a deep mystery around it. I suspect when I go to Tycoon Pinball next month I’ll give it a lot more time and will have a solid video to show but I suspect fans of the series will adore it.
Here is the promo
Jersey Jack on the side is practically a guarantee of a great pinball machine.
Three years ago when my blog was still a business and I was closing in on 1000 subscribers and hoping to monetarizing my thousands of youtube videos I had gone to youtube to check out a Mel Brooks video and saw this on my site:
If you are a regular reader of this blog you can guess what my answer was, but if you don’t remember:
Nothing says “Election 2020 is the most honest election there has ever been” then to ban videos and commentaries that question it.
This is a rather old video but I’ve noted that I’m closing in on 1000 subscribers which means that I can monetize videos there so I suspect the time has come to preemptively start the process to ban me.
I was of course correct and promptly banned by youtube.
Well the following year June (2023) youtube put out an announcement that they were reversing their ban on election 2020 commentary that they disagreed with so I appealed again saying:
I understand that you have now changed your policies on election commentary due to the curbs it made on free speech. As you banned me based three commentaries I made on election 2020 (all of which had under 100 views each) coincidently just as I was about to reach 1000 subscribers, I am asking if my over a decades worth of work including thousands of hours of interviews and reports, covering not only elections local state and national all over the nation but events from CPAC to Pinball festivals to quilt shops to religious gatherings will now be restored.
Let’s see if you actually meant these words:
“In the current environment, we find that while removing this content does curb some misinformation, it could also have the unintended effect of curtailing political speech without meaningfully reducing the risk of violence or other real-world harm.”
I pass the ball to you.
Joe Biden still being in the White House with an election to win apparently the words didn’t mean all that much to wit:
We reviewed your channel carefully, and have confirmed that it violates our Community Guidelines. We know this is probably disappointing news, but it’s our job to make sure that YouTube is a safe place for all.
Note they didn’t just review it, they reviewed it CAREFULLY that time and CONFIRMED I violated their guidelines and was thus still banned to keep youtube “safe”.
I lost years worth of views, the monitorization of my channel during an election year where, as the first new media person in history to question Donald Trump at a press conference (twice) could have meant enough income to justify keeping my business, which I had to close at the end of last year, open, not to mention the ability to push my book and podcast and blog through videos and NOW they’re saying I didn’t violate any standards when they IN WRITING said they had carefully reviewed my case and determined I violated rules and made youtube unsafe and now it’s OK?
I think not.
Hey youtube tell you what lawsuits take time although given your admission and previous correspondence I suspect I’d have a pretty good chance of winning so he’s what I’ll do:
This is the Classic Jersey Jack Pinball Machine The Wizard of Oz
And here is the much newer Stern James Bond Pinball Machine Dr. No.
Harvey: When l get off this boat, l’m going to get my father to put you all in jail. You’re all kidnappers.,,,
Captain Disko: Well, l guess there ain’t nothing else for it.
Harvey: …l’ll bet they put you all in jail. ln jail for the rest of your lives, and l’m going to do it, too.[ Disko waps him upside the head knocking him down to the ship’s deck] You Hit me?!
Captain Disko: Now you just sit there and think about it.
Captain’s Courageous 1937
As we near the last days of the blog as a business venture I think back on all the stories I’ve covered. There have been a lot of stories I’ve seen that have surprised or shocked me.
As many recent graduates face complaints about how they fit into the workplace, employers report increasing hesitancy in hiring them, according to a report by the education and career advisory platform, Intelligent
You mean all that expensive DEI education is not translating into job skills?
The report, which was based on a survey of nearly 1,000 hiring managers, found that one in six employers were reluctant to hire Gen Z workers mainly due to their reputation for being entitled and easily offended.
Moreover, more than half said that this generation, which refers to people born between 1997 and the early 2010s, lacks a strong work ethic, struggles with communication, doesn’t handle feedback well, and is generally unprepared for the demands of the workforce.
Amazing! Who would have thought that people who had to have counselors if the wrong person wins an election or if someone who disagrees with them politically speaks on a campus is completely useless in the real world.
Holly Schroth, senior lecturer at the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, explained that Gen Z’s focus on extracurricular activities to boost their college competitiveness rather than gaining job experience has led to “unrealistic expectations” about the workplace and how to deal with their bosses.
And even worse, they don’t come equipped with safe spaces!
Do a web search of “Gen Z” and “polite” and you’ll find a wave of stories on how this generation has no idea how to act around actual human beings.
So treating your kids as your friends and buddies instead of being the parent and spanking them then they need it produces useless idiots.
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