They're back! Earlier today, the Super Awesome Pinball Show, hosted by Christopher Franchi, Christian Line and Jeff Parsons released their first new episode in a year and oh boy it's a good one. Part 1 of their 2023 Year in Review show contains great interviews with David van Es of Barrels of Fun, David Fix from American Pinball and Jack Guarnieri from Jersey Jack Pinball.
Let's talk about American Pinball (AP) first, the manufacturer of Galactic Tank Force, Houdini, Hot Wheels, Oktoberfest and Legends of Valhalla. During the show, David Fix stated that AP has plans to release two pinball machines in 2024 - one game "coming out shortly" and plans for another game to come out "later this year."
On top of the two games planned for 2024, American Pinball has several more games in the pipeline. Three of its upcoming games are already flipping, with two tentatively scheduled for 2025. Christopher Franchi has been selected as the artist for game that is fourth in line.
American is in the planning stages for a game that would be released in 2026 and they met with a licensor within the past couple of weeks that could possibly be the second game of 2026. That game would actually represent "the return of a license."
Now let's talk about Barrels of Fun (BOF), maker of the new pinball machine Labyrinth, When David van Es originally set up the company, he did so with a 10 year plan. Barrels of Fun currently has three licenses for upcoming pinball machines locked in and early plans for two more beyond that, five total. They hope to release one game per year. With multiple machines currently in development, they actually have a set plan for which game will be released next. It will depend upon development speed.
Last but not least, Jack Guarnieri stated in his portion of the show that he'd like to see JJP release a new pinball machine every nine to ten months. If that timetable holds true, we would see a new game from Jersey Jack in either July or August 2024. The next game up is being designed by the new JJP designer Mark Seiden.
Jack reiterated that he really doesn't see JJP running older games again in the future.
Man I love the Super Awesome folks' interviews, they always give me so much to write about :). Below is a link to the fantastic show. It's a must listen. I can't wait until Part 2!
