New Multimorphic Pinball Module "Coming Soon"; New 24-Hour Pinball Tournament; Crazy Taxi is Back & More
By knapparcade
In my weekend article I mentioned that I had so much interesting stuff saved up that I'd have another article soon. Well, here it is. Let's kick things off with an update from Multimorphic. They recently sent out a production update on the Company's newest game "Portal." Approximately thirteen months after launching the game, Multimorphic has finished producing all of its initial orders for the game. Orders continue to come in for Portal, with current wait times of around four weeks for full machines and less for game kits. In the update, they said: "With our next launch coming soon, we're planning around the same goal, which includes increasing production capabilities to meet higher expected demand." So hopefully we will see a new game from Multimorphic soon.
I don't cover a lot of pinball tournament news here on this site, but this is a special case. The Sanctum pinball venue in Connecticut recently announced it has decided to discontinue the legendary "24 HR Final Battle" pinball tournament that it has been running annually since 2014. That's sad, but never fear...the New England Pinball League (NEPL) just announced that it is going to run a new replacement tournament called "The Final Stand 24hr Pinball Tournament" at the fantastic FunSpot arcade in Laconia, New Hampshire. The new tournament will take place on November 7 - 8 and will be open to 100 participants. Thank you to the NEPL's Chuck Webster for the heads up on the new event.
You know that I'll always share any new pinball factory pictures that I come across. Here's a couple from Barrels of Fun's Houston, Texas facility where we can see both Dune and Winchester Mystery House on the line.
Let's switch gears over to the arcade side of things. SEGA recently announced that it is working on a sequel to its super popular game Crazy Taxi for consoles and PCs. Sega's iconic game Crazy Taxi debuted in arcades in 1999, developed by Sega's AM3 division under designer Kenji Kanno, running on the NAOMI hardware (the arcade board derived from the Dreamcast architecture, which is why the home port later came over so faithfully). Players of the game act as a taxi driver, picking up passengers and getting them to their destination for fares to a legendary punk and ska-punk soundtrack that features groups like The Offspring and Bad Religion. The upright version of the original arcade game is amazing. My good friend Brady has one in his home arcade. Below is the original flyer for it.
No word on when Sega's new Crazy Taxi game will launch. Below is a brief description of it and the trailer:
"It's time for crazy driving, crazy adventure, and crazy money! Crazy Taxi is back and going global!
Encounter unique characters, tackle a variety of high-octane missions, navigate cities featuring unique terrain and driving challenges, and experience nonstop driving action in this all-new adventure across the globe!"
Speaking of cool arcade-related YouTube videos, the Arcade Blogger recently released a new article featuring amazing original footage of Atari's famous 1982 game Pole Position being produced at the company's factory back in the day. So cool! Atari Pole Position: Factory Assembly Line Footage
I came across a really cool article this morning about one of the last remaining “Sigma Derby” 🐎 mechanical horse racing games left in the World. Sigma Derby is a mechanical horse racing game made by Sigma (a Japanese company) that became a fixture in casinos, especially in Las Vegas, starting in the 1980s. Rather than being a video game, it’s a hybrid: a glass-domed table where small plastic horses physically race around a tiny green track while players bet on the outcome. How it works: Up to several players sit around the table at their own betting stations. You place small wagers (traditionally 25 cents, with the game paying out in nickels or quarters, which is part of its charm) on which two horses will finish first and second — a quinella-style bet. The five mechanical horses then trundle around the oval track at randomized speeds, with odds displayed for each possible pairing. If your two horses come in first and second in the right combination, you win based on the posted odds, which could occasionally pay out at long shots like 100-to-1. Its appeal was always more social and nostalgic than financially serious. The bets are tiny, the pace is leisurely, and a group of strangers ends up cheering and groaning together as little plastic horses jerk around the track. That communal, low-stakes, slightly absurd quality made it a cult favorite among Vegas regulars. Sigma Derby Moving to Golden Gate, Parade Will Feature Little People and Ponies
Last up, The Pinball Hall of Fame recently released a video featuring its owner Tim Arnold working on the currently broken super rate Pinball Circus game. It's really interesting to hear how the game arrived there and how difficult the original prototype is to keep running in an arcade setting. "WHERE IS CIRCUS? What happened to CIRCUS? Did it catch on fire? Did they sell it? Will we EVER see it again?!? These questions, and everything else you ever wanted to know about Midway's two-of-a-kind, never produced, engineering model pinball game, have been answered by the Pinball legend, and proprietor of the Hall of Fame himself, Tim Arnold!" Pinball Hall of Fame Pinball Circus Video