Steve Ritchie joins Jersey Jack Pinball
Game Over for Deeproot Pinball?
Roger Sharpe story becomes movie
Wayne Neyens celebrates 103rd birthday
and more

Jersey Jack Pinball (JJP) hired veteran pinball designer Steve Ritchie, who was still working for competitor Stern Pinball up to two weeks ago. Steve Ritchie reached out to me personally to inform me about the, at that point, upcoming breaking news and that he would like to come on as a special guest on the PINcast of Martin and me. Unfortunately, for reasons beyond Steve’s control, Steve could not come on our show this week, but hopefully, he will be joining us next week in a special bonus episode. The morning of Steve’s first day on the new job, JJP posted a video on their Facebook page of Steve Ritchie and Jack Guarnieri walking in the front door of the JJP facility in Elk Grove Village which is just a block away from Stern Pinball. More details on this news can be found on the Pinball Magazine website, which also links to the official press release.

JJP distributors shared a note from Jen Guarnieri on their social media, indicating that Guns N' Roses playfields will be sold after the end of production, which is expected in summer 2022.

Earlier in July, JJP announced several factory finds going on sale on their Pinball Wizard webshop. These factory finds included head targets for Hobbit ($39), Dialed In manuals ($19), and Wizard of Oz playfield protectors ($29).

Stern Pinball saw Steve Ritchie resign on Monday, July 26. That week, rumors of Ritchie leaving Stern started going around, and people were wondering whether programmer Lyman Sheats was still working for the company. It appears that Lyman has left Stern silently in November of last year. There is speculation going on whether he's working as a freelancer for another pinball company. People wonder whether his departure means certain games he worked on will no longer see any new code update.

 

It appears Stern Pinball may be leaving their current facility in Elk Grove Village as rumor has it appears there are other plans for the current location and their lease may not be renewed. These rumors have been going around for a over two years, as data centers have been taking over the industrial area of Elk Grove Village. I've asked for a response from Stern, but didn’t receive a reply by the time this newsletter was sent out.

 

The Stern Shop offered 100 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles boxes that were available at Walmart a few months ago. This exclusive and limited loot crate box includes pizza magnets, a Rocksteady and Bebop keychain, a Krang beanie, a custom t-shirt, and an exclusive Shredder action figure. 

 

Stern released code updates for Led Zeppelin (1.05) and Mandalorian (0.97).

 

For more Stern Pinball news, check the Stern of the union.

Spooky Pinball opened up sales of Halloween (1.250 units) and Ultraman (500 units) and sold out of both titles in less than four hours. In the meantime, production of both titles has started, with a 2:1 building ratio. We're still waiting for the official gameplay video of both games, although some videos of the games being played at public events have already shown up.

Owner Charlie Emery, his son Bug and employee Luke were special guests on the 600^th episode of Kaneda’s Pinball Podcast. They discuss the success of Halloween / Ultraman, how that game initially started as John Wick, and much more. 

 

Spooky also started a new tech phone service where you can discuss any technical issues on your Spooky game by talking to a real person. The number is 815-541-4940.

Homepin has been testing mech for their new licensed pinball game, which should be out by September. The company announced their lockbars will be made of (powder-coated) steel, contrary to the plastic ones used on the previous Thunderbirds game.

Most recently, Homepin has been hinting at the license of their upcoming pinball title with a video showing the text “New licensed pinball takes your pinball to 11?” Following that video, they joked around, hinting the theme could be 7 Eleven.

Chicago Gaming didn’t release any news regarding their upcoming remake game, although there have been some rumors going around. When talking to Ryan White last week, he mentioned he will host a seminar about the history of Churchill Cabinets and Chicago Gaming at the upcoming Southern Fried Gaming Expo, which will be held August 20-22 at the Marriott Renaissance Waverly in Atlanta, Georgia. For more info, visit the website of the event.

I was about to mention there is no news from Deeproot Pinball, but current events indicate there may be some news after all. Last month, Deeproot was supposed to produce a new update regarding the production of Retro Atomic Zombie Adventureland. That update didn't come, although apparently three people got refunded for their purchase. Today, it appears the Facebook page for Deeproot Pinball and owner Robert Mueller's personal Facebook page and LinkedIn page have been deactivated. Could it be it's Game Over for Deeproot Pinball? From one of my sources I hear strange things have been going on at Deeproot the past two weeks. The above image appeared on the Super Awesome Pinball Show Facebook page. I reached out to several people, but nobody responded so far. It will be interesting to find out what's going on.

No news from the Pinball Brothers, but they did share a video from their playfield supplier B&T Automaten polishing an Alien playfield.

 

No news from Dutch Pinball either. I talked to owner Barry Driessen, and he informed me they are still building The Big Lebowski, but due to ongoing supply chain issues, they are not at the pace they would like to build them.

 

Haggis Pinball didn’t report any news or updates either.

 

Also, no news from American Pinball. A new game was expected, but so far, no announcement has been made. It may be worth noting that American Pinball has its own channel on Youtube with tech tips, like creating a custom message on your game.  

 

And the last company in the No News category is Pinball Adventures, which has announced two games, Punny Factory and Elements, which both still have to go into production.

Former Gottlieb pinball designer Wayne Neyens, whose career in pinball has been documented in-depth in Pinball Magazine No. 5, celebrated his 103^rd birthday. That makes Wayne the longest living pinball designer ever. I had the pleasure of talking to Wayne the evening before his 103^rd birthday. That conversation is part of the most recent episode of the Pinball Magazine & Pinball News PINcast, in which he indicates he still dreams about pinball every night.

The story of how Roger Sharpe testified to the New York City Counsil to lift the ban on pinball in New York is set to become a movie. The news was announced on Deadline.com, and the film will feature Joel Courtney and Crystal Reed. So I invited Roger (who just had celebrated his birthday as well) as a special guest on the Pinball Magazine & Pinball News PINcast, where he discussed lots more details from the movie project.

After renting out their current location and seeing plans to move to Palm Springs go up in smoke, the Banning-based Museum of Pinball has decided to auction off their entire collection. The auction will take place during two weekends in September. See the above image for all details.

In a previous update, I reported how three Dutch guys had turned Zidware's Magic Girl into an actual working pinball machine. The games that American Pinball eventually built (at the time still a starting company) are flippable and score points, but that's about it. Mechs turned out to be missing or not working, modes couldn't be started, and much more things didn't work.

Last week, I visited these guys and was able to see with my own eyes what they have accomplished, and I am very impressed. As several people have asked for a gameplay video, the current plan is to shoot a video that will discuss and show the changes they made to the game, followed by gameplay. The plan is to shoot most of the video footage next week before some team members take a holiday break. The plan is to have the video edited in the meantime and publish it at the end of September. I have been asked to be involved as well and, although video is an unknown area for me, I'll give it a shot and try my best. I'll keep you posted on the progress.

That’s all for now. Keep on flippin'!

 

Kind regards,

 

Jonathan Joosten

 

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