Tilt Warning » events

PinGame Journal on PAPA 12

mgk — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 15:10:55 +0000

Last year Jim Schelberg from PinGame Journal handed over control of his magazine to Clay Harrell for a year and took off in search of some of that good ol’ rest and recuperation. Clay did an amazing job with the magazine during his time as guest Editor/Publisher, traveling himself to many of the events he covered in 2009, including PAPA 12, as well as visiting with the folks who were working on the projects and people present when the history went down as profiled in PinGame Journal during his tenure.

In Issue #136, you know the one with prolific game designers Wayne Neyens and Steve Kordek on the cover, Clay’s travel report finds him in the midst of a pinball scene that calls parts of Appalachia, aka SouthWest Pennsylvania, USA, home, and his ventures between the Silverball Country Club and PAPA 12 make for a tantalizing travel guide of the area immediately surrounding Pittsburgh, PA, USA.

So what was Jim supposed to do with the field report written up and submitted by Mish Paull on 2009’s World Pinball Championship tournament? Welp, as a little pre-PAPA 13 type action the PinGame Journal has published Mish’s piece online, free for all!

Gotta say thanks to Mish for taking the time to get so many of the details she did right in her wrap up, to Jim for making sure her work saw the light of day, and to Clay for publishing his stellar report that graced those glossy pages. Thanks for reporting on the World Pinball Championships for the community from within.

Fun to take a quick look back at last year, with PAPA 13 just 9 days away.

It’s More Fun To Compete – June

mgk — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 04:01:44 +0000

Chances to win PAPA 13 registration and/or division entries can be found out on the competitive pinball tournament circuit this month at the following events:

Northwest Pinball and Gameroom Show – June 11-13 – Seattle, Washington, USA
Pittsburgh Pinball Open – June 18-19 – Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Pin Maine-ia IV, The New England Pinball Championship – June 25-27 – Gorham, Maine, USA

And if you’re a tournament director interested in adding PAPA 13 certificates to the prize pool at your fine event, get in touch with us here at PAPA HQ.

Good luck out there.

Rocky Mtn. Pinball Showdown and Pinball Wizards Convention, in living color

mgk — Fri, 07 May 2010 21:32:00 +0000

Sweet clip from the Rocky Mountain Pinball Showdown, April 23-25, done by the guys behind Pinball 101

And a great selection of photos from the recent Pinball Wizards Convention, April 30-May 2, in Allentown, PA

Click the image to find your way there…

It’s More Fun to Compete – April

mgk — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 04:01:11 +0000

Chances to win PAPA 13 registration and/or division entries can be found out on the competitive pinball tournament circuit this month at the following events:

New York Pinball Open – April 10-11 – Rochester, New York, USA
Dutch Pinball Masters – April 10-11 – Ederveen, The Netherlands
Pinball at the Zoo – April 16-17 – Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA
2nd Annual Portland PinBrawl – April 18 – Portland, Oregon, USA
Rocky Mountain Pinball Showdown – April 23-25 – Denver, Colorado, USA
Pennsylvania Pinball Open – April 30-May 2 – Allentown, Pennsylvania, USA

And if you’re a tournament director interested in adding PAPA 13 certificates to the prize pool at your fine event, get in touch with us here at PAPA HQ.

Good luck out there.

It’s More Fun to Compete – March

mgk — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 10:24:15 +0000

Chances to win PAPA 13 registration and/or division entries can be found out on the competitive pinball tournament circuit this month at the following events:

7th Annual Fairfax Pinball Open – March 5-7 – Fairfax, Virginia, USA

Balac’s Pinball Party – March 12-14 – Alingsås, Sweden

Texas Pinball Festival – March 19-21 – Grapevine, Texas, USA

6th Annual Ohio Pinball and Gameroom Festival – March 26-27 – Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, USA

Midwest Gaming Classic – March 27-28 – Brookfield, Wisconsin, USA

Cupids & Canines 3 – March 27 – Scott Township, Pennsylvania, USA

And if you’re a tournament director interested in adding PAPA 13 certificates to the prize pool at your fine event, get in touch with us here at PAPA HQ.

Good luck out there.

PAPA 13 Registration Open!

mgk — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 07:42:07 +0000

Truth.

‘grats to Sweden’s Patrik Bodin, first player registered for this year’s World Pinball Championships!

West and MidWest, this Week in Pinball

mgk — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 23:45:56 +0000

Couple of events happening this week that we’re happy to make you aware of:

West
Opening Friday, February 5th, and running through March 2, at the Pacific Pinball Museum in the San Francisco Bay Area, is an exhibition defining pinball as art.

From one of the PPM’s associated websites,
Written by, Melissa Harmon, Curator, Pacific Pinball Museum:

A Short History of Pinball, Fine Art and Good Taste

Pinball, for the enthusiast, means the spirit of freedom and possibility, erotic fun without responsibility. Most pinball games in America were found in bars and arcades, which contributed to pinball’s image as lowbrow art, kitsch, and in bad taste. Because of this, pinball art has had little critical analysis. It’s ironic that the origin of pinball came in the midst of a cultural struggle to define “good taste”.

The western idea of “taste” began in France in the 1600 – 1700’s, coincidentally when the first bagatelles appeared. The French invented bagatelles which were the earliest pinball machines, made of score holes in a board. Players with cue sticks vied to push balls into the highest scoring holes. Later, pins or small nails were hammered in to the board as guides for the ball, hence the name pinball.

The French aristocrats tried to turn every aspect of their lives into art, and were in severe competition with each other as to what made good art and design. In 1777 as part of this competitive mania, the Comte d’Artois, grandson of King Louis XV, built a mansion called Chateau d’ Bagatelle dedicated to the play of bagatelle.

In Europe and America, the outcome of the struggle to define taste, and by extension what constitutes good art was temporarily settled in the 1800’s with the sweeping term “fine art”, which generally meant refined and tasteful art made by accepted artists. Forms such as advertising art, cartoons, posters and decorative art were not included.

Marcel Duchamp, the French/American surrealist shattered those fine art definitions by exhibiting a commercially produced urinal and calling it Fountain (1917).

In the sixties, led by Andy Warhol, fine art came to include many things that were once excluded. Consumer goods could become art, and a pinball machine could be seen as a cultural icon.

Recently, artists such as Budai, Dirty Donnie, Brian Holderman, Mike Schiess and William Wiley have re-themed pinball machines, making old machines into something completely new.

The Pacific Pinball Museum is dedicated to preserving the history of pinball, and encouraging cultural analysis and art about pinball.

Pinball Art: Fine Art is a study of pinball imagery and original artwork as shown in selected galleries from the 70’s through 2010.

As the folks from the PPM were the inspiration for PAPA’s own custom pinball machine project, we’re proud to have Michael Budai’s Freak Out and Brian Holderman’s Luther’s Vendetta backglass art on display as part of this first exhibit in the Pacific Pinball Museum’s new space.
—

MidWest
On Saturday, February 6th, at PAPA HQ just outside Pittsburgh, PA, we’ll be hosting the 3rd annual Cupids & Canines charity event, benefiting the Western Pennsylvania Humane Society and a proprietary charity operated by Camp Bow Wow International, Inc. called Bow Wow Buddies.

Detailed information regarding the event, including times and ticket pricing, written up by PAPA President Kevin Martin, can be found on the Cupids & Canines portion of the PAPA web site.

Running the tournament at this event will be 2005’s PAPA 8 World Pinball Champion Bowen Kerins. Trent Augenstein will be on hand defending his C&C 2009 title.

As this is one of only two times annually PAPA is open to the public, and considering the fact that the #1 question we’re asked about PAPA is “Why open only once a year?” Pinball player’s and hobby enthusiasts alike ought to seize the opportunity to access the PAPA collection for the only time we’ll open our doors before PAPA 13 – the World Pinball Championships, August 12-15, 2010.

Well, well, well. What do we have here?

mgk — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 18:33:14 +0000

via Dirty Donny’s blog – Street Walking Cheetah with a Hand Full of Crayons

What appears to be a tricked out Earthshaker with lead guitarist Kirk Hammett at the helm.

And here are artist Dirty Donny and lead singer/rhythm guitar player James Hetfield with the custom Metallica machine.

Pictures likely do this game little justice, as this time around they’ve surely hacked the game’s original sound ROMs to now rock Metallica in place of the game’s original earthquake ridden road trip sound track. So, fresh ART and MUSIC? This is a serious step up, in technological scope, from the Hellacopters custom redress. These guys are making moves, and that’s rather inspiring.

Word is this custom pinball machine will be on display at the Pacific Pinball Expo in California, first weekend of October. Don’t suppose we’ll get a closer look or listen before then…

Pacific Pinball Expo, San Rafael, CA, USA Oct. 2-4, 2009: WAY INTO IT.

mgk — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 19:58:36 +0000

This is the show put on by the folks who run the Pacific Pinball Museum. The crew who have contributed to the world of pinball the Visible Pinball Project in 2007, the Punball & the Hellacopters custom pinball machines in 2008, all in addition to maintaining the 600+ pins that constitute their collection.

Trailer above, full 18minute walk through of PPE 2008 available on Vimeo.

They’re really fortunate to have such a dedicated group of people working together. Check out their upcoming show, just to see how they do, what they’ve cooked up since their last report from the Bay Area.