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Destructoid is an independently-run publication forged by our love of video games and the gaming community's need of accountable enthusiast press
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[ sonicmario's blog ]

Cupids and Canines 2009 Casino Night and Pinball Tournament
sonicmario \| 9:38 PM on 02.11.2009	1 comments

Chad Concelmo mentioned back in RetroforceGO! Episode 68 that he wished he had a warehouse full of pinball games. Here are videos showing what that might look like.

Before the event:

During the event:

At the Cupids and Canines Casino Night and Pinball Tournament on February 7, 2009, over 350 people played blackjack, poker, craps, roulette and pinball at the Professional Amateur Pinball Association's (PAPA) headquarters in Scott Township (Pittsburgh), Pennsylvania. Tournament players and pinball enthusiasts could play over 400 pinball machines from all eras, including CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and Batman (The Dark Knight), two of the newest offerings from STERN Pinball, Inc. In addition to the admission fees, all coin-drop from the pinball machines went to charity.

Every paid attendee at the event received $20,000 in 'play money' to use at the casino gaming tables. Each $5,000 in 'play money' earned you one ticket to use for the chance auction and raffle. You could also re-buy 'play money' if you were tapped out.

Among the charities that benefitted from this event were: Bob Wow Buddies (Camp Bow Wow) and the Pittsburgh-area Humane Societies with the goals of promoting canine cancer research and animal adoptions.

''Want some Candy"?

Among the games involved in the tournament were:

Batman (The Dark Knight)
Harlem Globetrotters
Bram Stoker�s Dracula
Family Guy
The Simpsons
Flip Flop
Paragon
Jungle Queen
Medieval Madness
Judge Dredd

Joust - 2 Player Versus pinball game!

A $10 entry fee bought you a slot in a group of 8 players for a satellite tournament/preliminary round (though, your admission into Cupids and Canines came with one free entry into the tournament). Each group of 8 players was split in half. These two groups of 4 played a �best of three� series where first place in each game earned 4 points, second place earned 2 points, third place received 1 point, and fourth place got zero points. This was later changed to a �best of two� series because of the high amount of people who wanted to enter the tournament.

Finishing first or second overall in your group meant you advanced to the next round of four players with the winner of that group reaching the final round. A great feature about this system was that as soon as you lost a round, you could immediately reenter. A new preliminary round began as soon as eight more players were ready. A portion of the entry fees for the pinball tournament also went to charity. Trent Augenstein, ranked number 6 in the world as of this writing, won the tournament and took home an electromechanical pinball machine donated by PAPA.

It was a fantastic event, and I encourage all, who are looking for a slice of pinball heaven, to come out to the PAPA world headquarters when it reopens for the PAPA 12 World Pinball Championships this August.

''Pinball, as far as the eye can see!"

Cupids and Canines
PAPA
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Article

I realize now that it is not a particularly good idea to record by walking around with the camcorder at belt-level. It seems to produce a bouncy, first-person shooter type of effect on the video. �The More You Know��

RetroforceGO! is in my head.
sonicmario \| 10:38 AM on 02.04.2009	8 comments

You know how something can get into your head, and then that thing spawns an idea, which produces other ideas and then you have to put on the brakes before it becomes obsessive? Well that just happened to me. I was thinking about RetroforceGO! and then, all of a sudden, Tic-Tac-Dough (the game show) sprung into my head. The two ideas started stirring around and produced what you see below:
---
"We interrupt your regularly scheduled podcast to bring to you..."

Tic-Tac-Dough Theme Music

Let's shuffle the categories!

Here are the subjects for this game.

The game's getting intense now! Select a category.

..."You're right for Tic-Tac-Dough!"

Dammit... now I have to learn Flash so I can try to make this game happen...

Presenting... The 2008 New Jersey Pinball Open
sonicmario \| 8:18 PM on 08.21.2008	1 comments

Part One

The 2008 New Jersey Pinball Open at Eight on the Break at Dunellen, NJ. Competitors attempt to qualify to be one of the top six players that will advance to the double elimination playoffs. Also, One-Handed Mini-Tournament action on "Sharkey's Shootout".

Part Two

More qualifying action. Plus, "Tommy-Mode" (blinders) Mini-Tournament on Medieval Madness.

Part Three

Double elimination playoffs begin on "Terminator 3". Ted K. gets a "mode stack" going.

Part Four

Double elimination playoffs continue with "Whirlwind" and "Spider-Man".

Part Five

Double elimination playoffs continue with "Monster Bash", "The Shadow", and "Family Guy". Ted K. earns the Monster Bash Wizard Mode and becomes the new Bash Champion. Andrew D. and Michael F. have a good match on "The Shadow". Andrew also has a great "mode stack" on "Family Guy".

Part Six

Double elimination playoffs continue with "Terminator 3". Jory "mode stacks" Multiball and RED. Also, a flawless video mode. Winner is guaranteed at least a 2nd place finish.

Part Seven

Double elimination playoffs continue with Part 2 of the "Terminator 3" match. Assault mode is achieved. Winner is guaranteed at least a 2nd place finish.

Part Eight

Double elimination playoffs end with "Pinball Pool". The winner of the match takes the "Pinball Pool" machine home. Jory R. makes the best save of the tournament.

These video also have the "watch in high quality link" if you view them on YouTube.
My channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/funwithbonusdotcom

Calling All NJ (Tri-State Area) Pinball Players!
sonicmario \| 6:48 PM on 07.10.2008	5 comments

Eight on the Break in Dunellen, New Jersey will hold the New Jersey Pinball Open on August 9th, 2008.

The following is from Brian Smith of P3 Tournaments:

"Come join us for a full days worth of pinball tournament fun at Eight
on the Break. This is a great opportunity to practice before PAPA
the weekend after.

This format will be very similar to the tournaments we run in
Allentown and Rochester. There is a time period set aside for
qualifying and then a final double elimination round.

Eight on the Break is a fun arcade full of pinball machines, video
games, pool tables and includes a great snack bar. Admission is FREE
and tournament registration is only $5. All games will be on coin
drop. Price for each tournament entry is $10 per attempt.

Prizes? What I didn’t mention the prizes yet. We will be giving
away a Gottlieb Pinball Pool Pinball Machine or $500 cash to the top
winner! Total prize pool will be around $800. A great way to pay
for that trip to PAPA!

Registration is NOW OPEN and we recommend everyone pre-register
online. We have a limited number of registrations open and pre-
registering reserves your spot in the tournament. Plus it is very
important for planning reasons.

http://www.p3tournament.com (and click on NJ Tournament)

Looking forward to seeing everyone again at Eight on the Break this
summer and look for the Monthly Masters which will be returning in
September.

Brian Smith
P3Tournament"

So come on out, if you are in the Jersey area, for some intense pinball competition.

Attached photos:

PIN-MAINE-IA Results
sonicmario \| 11:02 PM on 07.04.2008	4 comments

Last weekend's PIN-MAINE-IA event was one of the great pinball happenings of this year. Great fun was had by all. This event will continue to grow as long as it has the fantastic support of people like "BallyMan" John Reuter and the Boston Pinball Association. PIN-MAINE-IA, onward and upward!

Team "Wicked Shimmy" (Trent A., Todd M., Ed Z., and myself) won the Pine-Brawl event. I was able to get enough WPPR (World Pinball Player Ranking) points to raise my world ranking up to #16.

IFPA (International Flipper Pinball Association) President Josh Sharpe won the New England Championship to claim the #3 World ranking.

Next event: The FSPA (Free State Pinball Association) pre-PAPA Flip-Off on July 26, 2008 at John's Place in Fairfax, Virginia. BE THERE!!!

EDIT: YouTube video link changed to include the Eight on the Break Tourney info.

Attached photos:

Gary Stern and Roger Sharpe discuss pinball on NBC Nightly News
sonicmario \| 4:08 PM on 06.26.2008	2 comments

STERN, Inc. owner Gary Stern and Pinball historian Roger Sharpe are interviewed on NBC Nightly News on the game of pinball. They talk about the STERN factory, what goes into making a pinball machine and a little bit on pinball's past (and hopefully, future).

Sorry if there's an ad before the video...

« OLDER

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about me
Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in /usr/home/destructoid/public_html/elephant/templates_c/footer-blog.phtml on line 49 Competitive Pinball Player Favorite Quote: "Ride that beast! Ride that Perfectly Normal Beast, Sandwich Maker!" -H2G2 Career Status: IFPA/WPPR Pinball Player Profile PARS Pinball Player Profile Titles: 2004 Fall JPA Pinball League Division A 1st Place 2005 Fall JPA Pinball League Division A 1st Place 2006 Fall JPA Pinball League Division A 1st Place 2007 Fairfax Pinball Open Classics Champion 2007 PIN-MAINE-IA Team Champion 2007 Fall JPA Pinball League Division A 1st Place 2007 P3 December Monthly Masters Champion 2008 P3 February Monthly Masters Champion 2008 PIN-MAINE-IA "Pine-Brawl" Team Champion 2008 Fall JPA Pinball League Division A 1st Place 2009 Fairfax Pinball Open Classics Champion 2009 Season #1 NYC Pinball League Ranked #1 2009 Spring JPA Pinball League - Division A 1st Place 2009 P3 July Monthly Masters Champion Podiums: 2004 P3 Tournament 2nd Place 2006 Fairfax Pinball Open Classics 3rd Place 2007 P3 Tournament at Rochester 3rd Place 2007 Fairfax Pinball Open Tournament 3rd Place 2007 FSPA prePAPA FlipOff Tournament 2nd Place 2007 P3 November Monthly Masters 2nd Place 2008 P3 January Monthly Masters 2nd Place 2008 P3 March Monthly Masters 2nd Place 2008 P3 No Limit Pinball Tournament at Rochester 3rd Place 2008 P3 Tournament at Allentown 3rd Place 2008 Spring JPA Pinball League Division A 2nd Place 2009 P3 Pinball Wizards Convention 2nd Place 2009 P3 August Monthly Masters 2nd Place My Other Blog: http://www.funwithbonus.com/ In the days of yore, and as the console wars raged on, I found myself in the middle of two fierce factions. I had friends who liked Sonic and thought that Sega and its Genesis could do no wrong, and I had friends who like Mario and thought that Nintendo and the SNES were equally infallible. Since I owned both systems, many times my friends would come over to my place to do battle, both verbally ("Sonic Sux!/Rox! No, Mario Sux!/Rox!" "I know you are but what am I" etc.) and on the electronic playgrounds of both consoles. One time, when I was kicking their collective asses in Super Mario Kart, I said something like this: "One day they'll make a game that has both Sonic and Mario in it together and it will be the greatest game ever!" Yes, in the console wars, I was Switzerland. After the laughter died down, someone said, "What would you call it, the sonicmario game? That'll never happen!" I said, "Yeah, sounds like a good game to me." For the rest of the day they called me sonicmario and I got my nickname. It seems that I eventually got my wish including good (SSB Brawl: WIN!) and iffy (Sonic vs Mario Olympics) examples. As far as gaming goes, I play just about every genre except simulation sports games. But, I can get into the arcadey sports games that focus on fun instead of realism. Competitive puzzle games like Tetris Attack/Puzzle League are high on my list as well. I also like to dabble in the classic-type games in XBLA since they accommodate my retro tendencies. However, besides my bias toward platform games that star either a 2-Dimensional Sonic or Mario in them, I love to play shmups. Shmups are like no-limit poker; easy to play but difficult to master. My real gaming love though is pinball. Not computer pinball, but real, tactile, arcade pinball. I'm sure that this one may be coming out of left field for some people, but I'll continue. I am a highly ranked player in the world of competitive pinball. Touring and playing in various tournaments is great fun, and I urge you, if you like pinball, to find a league in your area and compete. I also have the "dumbest. avatar. ever." according to peachboy...which is awesome.