Chicago Pinball Expo 2014 (pics)

[Crawley]

After work I headed over to the Chicago Pinball Expo for a few hours. By the time the vendor hall opened I unfortunately was running out of steam (draining last two days of work) so didn't play anything there even though I really wanted to since there were quite a few exclusives there. But in any case here is a recap of what time I did spend there.



Maybe it was my imagination but the Game Hall seemed larger than it was last year. I'm not sure if it was but there were certainly plenty of games in there. A nice mix of older and newer machines.



There were also quite a few machines on display that I haven't seen at any shows I've been too before. And for me playing those are a major draw.



With the opening of the Vendor Hall and it being dinner time the Game Hall cleared out nicely around 6pm.



So here was the first big surprise. There was not just one Big Bang Bar on display but two! This one in the Game Hall was free to play and there was a second one out in the hallway which you pay for - the money going to a charity. I did only play the one in the Game Hall and it was in great condition and played fantastic. Anyone was welcome to buy it for the $14k asking price.

 

[Crawley]

In that same row was also a Defender. This is also a very rare game with only 369 made. I've played the Visual Pinball version a lot but never played an actual one. So was thrilled to play it! It has all the sounds from the video game, pop-up targets (ala Cactus Canyon), a manual "reverse" kickback to save your ball, and a smart bomb button you can use to destroy targets. Really fun game and this would be a top pick for a Pinball Arcade game.

Popeye was next to it as you can see. First time I've played it. I know the game gets a lot of flack but it was pretty decent. Certainly better than the Bugs Bunny game - would rank that far worse.



Lord of the Rings with the new color DMD display was there. It looked pretty nice.



There were 6 or 7 machines in the row all with color DMDs, including this tricked out Metallica. I didn't play it but did play the Congo, which I've never seen with the color DMD.



Its too bad that Bobby King was kidding about Last Action Hero. First time I played it and its actually a very fun pin. Actually played several games on it since it was so fun.

 

[Crawley]

Varkon makes another appearance at the Expo here. This is another rare one with like 90 units made.



These are the controls for it. To flip you pull the joysticks down to move the flipper. Initially its a bit awkward but you get used to it.



Fireball II! I never played this one before, just Fireball and Fireball Classic, so was interested in this one. And I have to say I really enjoyed it. It was another game I kept going back to play.

Hurricane (the last of the rollercoaster trilogy) was next to it and I really like that machine a lot - more than Cyclone (which was also there). Dunno what it is but I just have a lot of fun with it.



Gottliebs Big House. I haven't seen this one before so was new to me. It was in immaculate condition. The odd thing about this one was that there were these three buttons below the plunger. Two said "escape route" or something like that and couldn't see the other. While playing the game at one point "escape route" was lit - but those buttons were so out of the way they were not convenient to even press. I would have had to bend down, looking away from the table, just to see where I was pressing. No idea what they were for.

The game itself wasn't bad but not anything great either - middle of the road is what I got out of it.

 

[Crawley]

Another one I hadn't played before. I have to say it was a bit odd. A lot of empty space in the middle (well until the bug brain pops up) and it took me awhile to figure it out. One thing that I did find neat was there was a right flipper and also a red right mini-flipper. And that mini-flipper is pretty powerful. It certainly helped make some of the center area shots.



There it is! Controlled by a second button near the right flipper.



Here is the last oddity before I move on to the Vendor Hall. This is Olympic Games by Jeutel. It's a French pinball manufacturer Jeutel. You may be more familiar with their games Papillion or Le King.

I kid. I never heard of them either. And seeing as they only made around 500 of each of their games I can see why. But this game wasn't too bad for an early SS type game. Had a nice layout to the table and plenty to do on there. It's a play and forget table but I always enjoy playing tables from other countries that typically don't make it over seas.

 

[Crawley]

So The Hobbit made its debut at the Chicago Expo. They had one playable one on hand. As I mentioned before I was pretty beat by the time I got to the Vendor Hall so watched one guy play for awhile and after his game someone else played but the ball got stuck so moved on. I didn't get a good sense of the game from what I saw. One guy had a long playing ball but it didn't seem like much was happening on the table. So unfortunately I can't give impressions.



Like WOZ it has the large LCD display on the backglass.



And you could watch the game on some monitors that were set up.



There were three of the Medieval Madness remakes on hand to play. I noticed the trolls look slightly different but other than that it seemed the same otherwise.

 

[Crawley]

Plenty of Walking Deads here. Actually there was one in the Game Hall which was oddly placed space in the middle of a row of 70 SS machines. Stood out like a sore thumb.



Three more Walking Deads on the other side. I did play a few games and they were all terrible. They gotta do something about the drains straight down the middle. Even coming off the ball launch they would go down there. Did not make for a fun game. One guy I watched was done within 30 seconds. First ball straight down the middle. Second ball he managed to hit it but it bounced off something and went down an outlane. Last ball straight down the middle. Even watched a few players that were bumping the machine regularly but struggling to keep the ball in play. Ugh.



What the heck is this long line for?



Yup, its the The Big Lebowski.

There were two playable machines. One had a long line and the other did. No idea why as at this point I was yawning (no idea how I'm awake now). Might have been a contest or something now that I'm thinking about it - they were handing out flyers.

 

[Crawley]

Pinball Circus was on hand.

Well sorta. This is the whitewood of what was going to be the remake. It was playable though and I did play game just to say I did.



There were quite a few custom machines on display including this Buffy The Vampire Slayer, which I haven't seen before. It actually looked pretty nice and the DMD had a lot of things going on.



The plunger for it is a stake.

Next to it was the Wrath of Olympus machine, which I've seen before but I think it has significantly updated code to it. In any case it had a fairly long line. There was also an Earthsharker Aftershock machine with some updated code but it was unfortunately turned off.



Predator and Sonic returned but were both turned off.

Next to those you can see the VirtuaPin machines. Both the Mini and what I think was the Extreme edition.

 

[Crawley]

But VP Cabs had the much nicer looking display for their virtual pinball machines. And I have to say they looked really nice. I was considering the VirtuaPin machines if I got one but now I'm leaning towards the VP Cab ones.

Alright. I'm pooped. Been a long week for me and I'm heading to bed.

 

[pm1109]

Thanks for taking all the pictures
Looks great.

 

[Dedpop]

Its too bad that Bobby King was kidding about Last Action Hero. First time I played it and its actually a very fun pin. Actually played several games on it since it was so fun.

Was he ?.
I wish I was in your shoes.

 

[pinsam]

Wow, looks gorgeous. I'm envious!

 

[Dedpop]

A great time reading you.
Thanks.

 

[Kolchak357]

That is one sweet event. Thanks for giving us a peek inside.

 

[Slam23]

Thanks for the report. I heard from a friend that Lebowski did great (hence the lines probably), go Dutch Pinball!

 

[Reagan Dow]

Thanks for the virtual walk through. Now get so e rest!! ;-)

 

[Crawley]

Thanks for the comments. Figured I finish this up with a few other oddities I found when I went back the next day.



Full Throttle is from another new manufacturer called Heighway Pinball. It wasn't on display on Friday but out on Saturday. This one was kinda neat as there's a monitor in the center of the playfield that shows the score as well as the rev meter for your bike. Like The Gateaway you can change gears, or something similar, by hitting the launch (plunger) button. It plays fast and looks pretty nice.



Here's a souped up version of Big Shot. The pinball machine was completely stripped down by this group, Mission, and most of the internal components of the machine were replaced with more modern components. They're also using a P-Roc board to control everything. The neat thing about it is there's a switch on the front where you can change the game from the original game (which plays completely accurate to the EM) to an updated 2014 game which has some new rules, lighting effects, and chimes (music). Just flick the switch.



This is back in the VPCabs tent. I spent a fair amount of time back here on Saturday playing their machines. I have to say Pinball FX plays fantastic on a these virtual cabinets. I had my best game of Sorcerers Lair I've ever had playing on my computer. The Visual Pinball stuff didn't play or look as nice to me. But they were running the older versions rather than the newer DX9 tables (which there are only a few anyways) and missing the updated physics. So was kinda unfortunate not to get a sense of how the newer VP looks plays.

In any case they had this prototype mini-mini-cade on display. It was a little hard to see things on this small of a screen, particularly with the ball moving so fast, and the image for the DMD was a bit larger than the screen so lost some of the information. But I got the idea of how it'll work when they fix everything. The price seems pretty high so not sure who this is for. For a few more thousand you can get the regular mini-cade machine which is pretty nice.

Also these machines are fully customizable as far as hardware goes. So if you want to future proof and put in a better processor or video card that's doable.

 

[Crawley]

Last two notables.



This was a custom P-Roc machine that was out in the hallway. It looks like a 70s SS machine but is controlled by modern components.



You wouldn't know it by playing it as it plays just like a regular SS machine. And is pretty fun. A nice table layout with a 2-ball multiball mode and some extra flippers to keep the ball moving around the table. Only thing that seemed to be missing were sounds. Oddly the only time I heard them as at the end of the ball where some chimes played.



This is back in the Game Hall. It's Time 2000 from Atari. Now I see some Atari machines from time-to-time at shows but this one was new to me. Like all Atari machines they stick out as they are these huge wide body machine with that funky artwork to them. And the layouts of the tables are so odd too - this one no exception.



As you can see here there are four flippers. The two outer flippers work like you would normally expect. But the two inner flippers are reversed. So if you hit the right flipper button the left inner flipper moves. It takes a bit of getting used to know which one to press. And even when you get it forget about making aimed shots, just flip and hope for the best. Oddly I kept playing it just to grasp how to play the games. The rules were pretty simple (fill up the two time chronometers and bank your score) but given how the game plays its just luck with hitting any shots you need. And like all Atari machines I've played it plays so slow.

Its one of those odd machines that's worth checking out but not one I would ever want to own.

So that's about it for this year's Expo from me. I have to say this year was definitely better than the previous two years I went. Seemed to be a lot more to do and plenty of more games to play. It also wasn't jammed pack which was nice. Hopefully next year is just as good.

 

[Reagan Dow]

Thanks for the kick ass pics and commentary!! You should apply for work at CNN.

 

[Kolchak357]

Here is a pretty good vid showing some more of the Expo. The second half shows gameplay of several pins in including Orbitor 1.
Hope the OP doesn't mind me adding this to his excellent Expo pic thread.

 

[Crawley]

Nope, this is great walkthrough. Plus it shows the overflow game room which had another 20 or so pins in it. I didn't even know about that room till I read about it today. The one thing this Expo has never been good at is listing where anything is. There's no map and I don't recall ever seeing any signs. So you basically have to ask where stuff is, but mainly you're just looking on your own.

I should also mention that the majority of the machines I played at this show were very well maintained and offered excellent play. Sometimes you'll go to the Expos, particularly the Chicago one, and there will be a lot of tables that work but are really just beaters and not fun to play on. Basically people just brought them to get the free admission. This year it seems a lot of the owners brought ones they fixed up so the gameplay was great. It makes such a difference to play a well kept machine vs a beater. So my hats off to the people that generously supplied their tables for play.