THIS WEEK'S ARCADE & PINBALL NEWS - 4/22/2022
"Intro." That's what I wrote in this spot when I put the majority of this week's arcade and pinball news together last night. I had every intention of writing some sort of introduction, but then a busy work day, youth soccer and high school lacrosse games struck. So no intro (unless this counts lol).
Having said that, this was an eventful week so dig in and enjoy. Notice the "New And Improved" fancy lines between articles now :) .
Have a great weekend!
Pittsburgh is a Pinball Paradise. These locations are just the tip of the iceberg.
Four Places in Pittsburgh Where You Can Game Like It’s the ’90s These arcades and gaming cafes are popular destinations.
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PINBALL SIGHTING! This one is for our Australian friends...
LOCATION: 74 Bacton Road, Chandler, Queensland, Australia
SQUARE FOOTAGE: 23,000 (not including garages)
BEDROOMS & BATHROOMS: 8 bedrooms & 12 bathrooms
PRICE: N/A
Stern Mustang and Stern Harley-Davidson as seen in this home for sale in Australia. Unfortunately, the price of this property is unlisted, but as the old adage goes...If I have to ask, I probably can't afford it.
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Arcade Games and Pinball Are Alive and Well in Bellingham [Washington]
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Here's a write-up on an Indiana pinball location...
Orbit Room putting its own spin on the Bloomington bar scene, with beer, bands and pinball
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I NEED to get to District 82 one of these days. Such an amazing location!
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Here's a great video on a new pinball location in Syracuse, NY...
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PA man becomes 11th person to score perfect game in original Pac-Man arcade game
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The San Antonio pinball community, in conjunction with Project Pinball, is holding a charity auction to help pay the significant debt that Barry Oursler and his wife incurred after his medical benefits were cut off by Deeproot Pinball.
In addition to the Project Pinball auction, a charity pinball tournament is being held at What's Brewing Coffee Roasters on Sunday April 24th in Barry's honor.
As someone who has racked up hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical bills over his lifetime, I can imagine how devastating it must be for a family to experience a serious illness without having insurance. I've shared links to both events below for anyone who is helping Barry's wife Kathy. Thanks.
"Barry Oursler was an amazing pinball game designer and was loved and admired by so many in the pinball world. He met Kathy in 2018 and brought her into that world shortly after they started dating. They married in 2019, and he quickly became a loving part of our family. He had never been an Uncle and was so happy to become "Uncle Barry." Barry loved his family in Chicago, San Antonio and his friends all over the world.
Barry lost his income and health insurance in 2021 while battling cancer. Needless to say, his medical bills, along with monthly bills, quickly escalated. After a lengthy stay in the hospital last December, we found his cancer returned and spread. He was advised to restart his treatment; however, his Medicare would not be effective until February 1st. He started his new chemo treatments on 2/15 and 2/16 but had an adverse reaction within a few days. He was hospitalized on 2/20 and passed away shortly after on 2/21. His passing has been devastating to everyone, especially Kathy, who has been left with an overwhelming amount of debt as she grieves the loss of her loving husband.
Please help us relieve some of this burden as she comes to grips with how she is moving forward without him."
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Exclusive Never Before Seen Deeproot Pinball Videos & Pictures
https://www.knapparcade.org/post/exclusive-never-before-deeproot-pinball-seen-videos-pictures
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Watch Warren Buffett Play Pinball at this Amazing Pinball Candy Store
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Magic Girl Pinball Cabinets for Sale
https://www.knapparcade.org/post/magic-girl-pinball-cabinets-for-sale
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RUMOR: Jersey Jack Pinball Pauses Public Factory Tours...
https://www.knapparcade.org/post/rumor-jersey-jack-pinball-pauses-public-factory-tours
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Recent Video Tour of Jersey Jack Pinball's Factory
https://www.knapparcade.org/post/recent-video-tour-of-jersey-jack-pinball-s-factory
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A Visit to the World Famous Rock Fantasy Pinball Venue
https://www.knapparcade.org/post/a-visit-to-the-world-famous-rock-fantasy-pinball-venue
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Pedretti Gaming Launches Alternate Backglass for Fun House 2.0 Rudy's Nightmare
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Next American Pinball Game is Due Out in October
https://www.knapparcade.org/post/next-american-pinball-game-due-out-in-october
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The Dragon's Lair Pinball Saga
I published a series of articles about the ongoing Dragon's Lair pinball project this week. Posting links to all of them seems pointless now, given how much the situation changed as the week progressed. Here's a summary of what happened:
It all started with this...
Earlier this week the Italian gentleman who has been working on a homebrew Dragon's Lair pinball machine for several years shared the above post on his project's Facebook page. After seeing this, I got excited as I always do about all things pinball, and shared the information in an article on this site, urging caution about doing any sort of Kickstarter or paying pre-order money. The response was surprisingly huge, with the post receiving over 7,000 views and counting.
The next day, an individual who goes by the username "TreyBo69" posted on Pinside that he reached out to Digital Leisure to see if a license to manufacture a pinball machine using the Dragon's Lair intellectual property has officially been secured yet. According to the response from the company that he shared, it appears as though while there has been discussions between the Dragon's Lair pinball project and the company, no licensing agreement has been agreed to yet.
Below is the supposed response from Digital Leisure:
"Thanks for reaching out. The person you mention has reached out to Digital Leisure and Dragon’s Lair LLC (the licensing arm for all things Dragon’s Lair) but has yet to secure any license. They have simply presented their ideas for the project, but nothing firm has been agreed to.
I have forwarded your email to the DL LLC as they would be direct point of contact for such a project and will follow up with the individual posting to the Facebook group.
Thanks for the details.
Best Regards,
Paul Gold
Digital Leisure"
The following day, legal representative for Digital Leisure issued a Cease and Desist order regarding the creation of this game in its Facebook Group:
From what I can tell, it appears as though Digital Leisure and Dragon's Lair LLC have decided that they want no part in this project. The individual who was working on it has only shown bits and pieces of artwork and the playfield over the years, but he claims that the game is nearly done, with full software but a Non-Disclosure Agreement that he signed with the companies has prevented him from showing any more, including gameplay.
It's difficult to say how much was going on between the rights-holder and the maker of the game behind-the-scenes. He certainly appeared to imply that he had the exclusive rights to any pinball machine with Dragon's Lair images on numerous occasions over the years on Pinside. Given the fact that the creator of the project speaks Italian, it's certainly possible that some nuances of his statements have been lost in translation and came across more definitive than were intended. I don't know. The tremendous amount of traffic that my initial article on this subject received certainly kames it seem to me as though there is absolutely a market for a Dragon’s Lair pinball machine.