We All Love Playing Pinball, But Why?

Dr Jennifer Hazel, co-founder of Checkpoint.

When you ask this question you'll get a variety of answers from different people. Some might think of the sights and sounds that they like, others might answer in a more abstract way saying that they enjoy the challenge or the physical nature of the game. No matter what, I think we would all agree when I say that playing makes us feel good. There is no doubt that playing pinball, and games in general, has some psychological benefit.

In an effort to try to understand those benefits Dr. Jennifer Hazel is currently conducting a research project that aims to tease apart this complex interaction between humans and games. Hazel is the co-founder of Checkpoint, a charity that is investigating links between gaming and mental health. While their work is mainly oriented towards video games, I have no doubt that much of their research could be applied in pinball settings.

Their current research project is looking to identify the types of games that induce a flow state. A flow state is described in psychology as a total cognitive congruence with an activity. All pinball players have experienced it. Most commonly refereed to in pinball as being "in the zone", its those times when you just can't miss, or the ball just stays up with little effort. You can't be distracted by what is going on around you, and your actions just seem to flow without any thought. Research has shown that being in this state of ultimate concentration is psychologically beneficial and Dr. Hazel wants to learn more about how it happens in gaming.

Checkpoint has put the call out for gamers to contribute to their data to help them learn more about the psychological benefits of games. If you'd like to contribute to the research you can find their survey here.

Author: John Pansini

New Australian IFPA Pinball Country Director

Meet your new country director...

L C M

A.K.A. Luke Marburg

On Tuesday night it was announced that Luke has been appointed as the second country director for Australia.

What does this mean?! Is Dan out of the job?

No. Luke will be assisting Dan with assessment and submission of all new Australian tournaments from now. This means that Dan will be still solely handling any tournaments that have been already submitted.

So who’s this Luke guy...?

Luke Marburg is currently ranked 8th in Australia and 305th in the world according to the IFPA rankings. For perspective, 8th in Australia is one above Jack Hutch, and one below Greg Siegele. Luke has been running local comps in Melbourne for roughly 3 years, and coming from a poker background, he has a real knack for tournament mechanics.

Martin Robbins, a local of Melbourne had this to say:

“​This is great news for the Competitive Pinball community. Luke is not only a great guy but is the most knowledgeable person I know when it comes to tournament rules, formats, rulings and overall knowledge of the global pinball scene. With so many more tournaments now in Australia the amount of work required by Dan to keep on top of things must be huge and Luke coming on board only helps us now but enables more clubs, leagues and one off tournaments to be supported.

Further, Luke is crazy when it comes to numbers, calculating chances of success and keeping everyone informed of their progress during comps - he is the go to person at most Melbourne comps especially as he attends all of them regularly - he is absolutely the most committed person to the Melbourne competitive pinball community.”

— M. Robbins

We did get a chance to speak to Luke at the PAX gaming convention this past weekend and he told us that he fell into the role. Luke had been helping Dan with some of the more complicated aspects of pinball tournament rules and gradually over time became an obvious choice. All that was left was Dan’s recommendation to the IFPA for the official appointment.

Luke’s enthusiasm for the role appeared tentative, and I suspect this is due to the amount of responsibility. However, during the PAX IFPA pinball competition he was very clear in explaining formats and when called on to make a ruling it was done quickly and without hesitation. Already he has taken up the role like a veteran.

The position of country director fills an essential function without which competitive pinball could not operate. Dan and Luke receive nothing in return for the effort they put in, and so we have to praise Luke for stepping up and taking on this role.

There is now an official contact email for the Australian country directors that can be used for tournament and score submissions. ausifpa@gmail.com

Author: John Pansini

Bell tops Sydney Super League Final

The first Sydney Super selfie league drew to a close at the end of March, and on Sunday the top qualifiers played off to see who was the supreme super selfie silver-ball soul in Sydney.

City Heroes on George st. Sydney

Nine finalists entered the A division on the day and so games were played in groups of three. Consistancy was the key on the day with each finalist playing 9 games over the 4 hours.

Iron man was a particularly fast player with finalists rarely scoring over 20 million on the day. There were a few last minute game changes to keep the players on their toes. Kiss and Metallica were taken out and replaced with a beautiful ACDC that played magically. During practice Matt Venables. showed us he wasn't phased by the change, scoring a 300-something million on the ACDC. However at the end of the day he was beaten out by the consistancy of skill displayed by Marc Bell.

Paul Reid was hot on Marc's heels chasing 1st, and it came down to the last game. Paul needed a first place on the walking dead in his last group to match Marc's 54 points, however, Matt stood in his way taking the 7 points effectively pushing Paul to 2nd overall.

Young David Loewy took 3rd position, with Ben Hayes following him in 4th.

Final Positions:

Division A
1,Marc Bell
2,Paul Reid
3,David Loewy
4,Ben Hayes
6,Matthew Venables
6,Nathan Clissold
6,John Pansini
8,Regan Rist
9,William Gill

Division B
10,Pat Nichols
11,Tim Chapman
12,Duncan Macdonald
13,Terry Hunt
14,Ron Loewy
15,Robert Cartlidge
16,Michelle Clark
17,Gary Doust
18,Greg McMahon

The selfie fun isn't over! Qualifying for the April Sydney Super League has already begun at the Courthouse Hotel in Newtown.

The Courthouse Hotel. Kiss, Attack from Mars, The Shadow, Creature, Addams Family, Game of thrones, ACDC and Metallica!

The line up at the Courthouse can't be described any other way than EPIC! Some absolute and undoubtable classics like Adams, Attack from Mars, and The Shadow, as well as the latest Sterns like Game of Thrones! This months comp is sure to be a great one!

Author: John Pansini

The first month of Sydney's Super League in its final qualifying days!

Author: John "Magic Hands" Pansini

March has been a very busy month of intense pinball competition with Pinball HQ's marathon and Pincade happening over the pond (NZ). But if that wasn't enough for you, we also had the first month of the new Sydney Super League. 

If you didn't already know, qualifying for our super league is happening from the 1st to the 31st of March, which means there are only 2 days left to get down to City Heroes on George street to post scores.

Selfie stick is recommended. It is actually quite a challenge getting ones head and score into frame.

There has been some pretty tough competition from some great players like Matt V., Ben H., and Nathan C. who hold the top three qualifying spots currently.

Putting up a score on each machine will earn you points, with the top three scores getting 100/90/85. After that the point value only drops by one so 4th position on that game earns 84 points. This makes the top three spots on a game worth a lot more.

Current standings:

The final will be held at City Heroes on Sunday the 3rd of April. On the day each of the qualifiers will be put into divisions based on their qualifying position. At the moment it looks like Matt, Ben, Nathan and Pat will be playing off in  the A division to determine 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th in the final.

New shot of Ghostbusters playfield

A new shot of part of the playfield for Sterns upcoming Ghostbusters game has appeared online. The shot gives us a close look at some of the playfield art and inserts.

The art looks great, and more colourful than what we have seen from Sterns other recent games. We can also see two drop targets on either side. One labeled "Tony Scoleri" and the other "Nunzio Scoleri".

For those who aren't Ghostbusters nerds, the Scoleri brothers were sentanced to death by electric chair in 1948. Typically, they make themselves a nucence by coming back as ghosts and have to be put away by our heroes.

The Scoleri brothers - Ghostbusters II

It would appear as though these guys are going to pop up during play to be shot down ala Cactus Canyon.
Another point of note is the inserts that appear to lead towards the main shots in the game. In line with a 'jackpot' insert are inserts with the labels 'The ballroom', 'He slimed me!' and 'We got one!' While its only really speculation at this early stage, these would appear to be all themed around the Slimer ghost character. This implies that the shots will be in an Attack from Mars style (monster bash), wherein each shot lights an insert, and completing all the inserts on each shot starts a multiball.

This is of course a tried and true style we've seen on many games, and I for one would be happy to see this shot style on the new Ghostbusters!