# EP2025 - Alessandro Cacciola - Pinball News **Source:** Pinball News (EPC 2025 Seminars) **Type:** video **Published:** 2025-06-01 **Duration:** 13m 0s **Beat:** Pinball **URL:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaUr5NTSqh0 --- ## Analysis Alessandro Cacciola, an Italian pinball enthusiast and customizer, presented his homebrew pinball modification projects at EPC 2025. He detailed his journey creating themed conversions of classic machines (Roller Games → Fist of the North Star, Diner → Lupin III, and an in-progress Bud Spencer & Terence Hill machine), documenting his process of modifying graphics, sounds, and software using PinSound boards and Pin2DMD technology. Cacciola also showcased his commercial pinball customization business, which includes custom side rails, illuminated aprons, and other aesthetic modifications sold at pinball expos. ### Key Claims - [HIGH] Cacciola started collecting pinball machines in 2010-2011 with a dream of building original machines from scratch. — _Direct autobiographical statement: 'I started collecting pinball in 2010, 2011, and my wish has always been doing my own pinball from the beginning.'_ - [HIGH] The Fist of the North Star (Okutonoken) conversion of Roller Games took approximately one year to complete, starting in 2020 during COVID lockdown. — _Speaker stated: 'I started it in 2020 during COVID, because I had nothing to do. And I finished in one year.'_ - [HIGH] Modifying the audio for the conversion required changing approximately 300-400 individual sounds with PinSound board assistance from Nicolas. — _Direct quote: 'there are about 300-400 sounds and I was going crazy' and 'I asked to Nicolas of Pinsound... I bought Pinsound and I studied about the sound.'_ - [HIGH] Pin2DMD technology made video display modifications significantly easier by allowing display words to be converted to video instead of manually reprogramming ROM files. — _Speaker explained: 'after a couple of years the pin to gmd came in my help because they invented a board that the pin to the md could be placed on system 11 and they what is it was easier to take take the words of the display and change them into videos.'_ - [HIGH] Cacciola is currently working on a Bud Spencer & Terence Hill machine using an open-source PP-System (also called MK-47 system) that allows full software, rules, sounds, and video customization via Raspberry Pi or PC. — _Speaker stated: 'Now I'm trying to do the Bud Spencer one... I found a German guy his nickname is MK 47 that he invented the PP you see system this is an open source system.'_ - [HIGH] Cacciola views pinball machines primarily as art rather than games, stating he doesn't know how to play pinball competitively. — _Direct statement: 'I'm a pinball addicted, but not playing because I don't know how to play pinball. I like the machines. For me, they are art.'_ - [HIGH] Cacciola's custom pinball modifications business includes selling themed side rails, laser-cut illuminated aprons, and other cosmetic enhancements at pinball expos. — _Speaker described commercial offerings and noted success at Chicago Pinball Expo: 'last year I went to Chicago Pinball Expo and they went crazy for my airpods.'_ ### Notable Quotes > "For me, they are art. And I go crazy for them, I try to make them my life." > — **Alessandro Cacciola**, ~13:20 > _Core philosophy: Cacciola views pinball machines as artistic expressions rather than games, motivating his customization work._ > "It's not so easy to build a pinball from zero because you have to think about playfield ramps, the shoots and imagine where the ball has to go and to come back." > — **Alessandro Cacciola**, ~1:30 > _Explains why he chose to modify existing machines rather than design from scratch—acknowledges complexity of playfield design._ > "I had to take every single sound of the of the pinball and change it... there are about 300-400 sounds and I was going crazy." > — **Alessandro Cacciola**, ~6:00 > _Demonstrates the labor-intensive nature of audio customization for homebrew conversions using PinSound technology._ > "The video part has been the hardest because all the games is not numeric pinball. It has just numbers and letters. And I didn't know how to change them." > — **Alessandro Cacciola**, ~7:15 > _Illustrates technical challenges of retrofitting display systems in pre-digital era machines; Pin2DMD later simplified this process._ > "There are the, I don't know the English term, but the purists, the ones who don't change even the lamps that want to kill me. But I think they are the people appreciate what I do." > — **Alessandro Cacciola**, ~15:00 > _Acknowledges the pinball community's purist faction opposed to modifications, yet notes positive reception for his aesthetic work._ ### Entities | Name | Type | Context | |------|------|---------| | Alessandro Cacciola | person | Italian pinball enthusiast, homebrew game converter, and commercial pinball customization business owner. Presents at EPC 2025 on his conversion projects and custom modification business. | | Nicolas | person | Representative of PinSound board manufacturer; provided technical guidance to Cacciola on implementing custom audio for his Okutonoken conversion. | | MK-47 | person | German developer of the PP-System, an open-source pinball control platform using Raspberry Pi/PC that Cacciola plans to use for his Bud Spencer & Terence Hill project. | | PinSound | company | Aftermarket pinball sound board manufacturer. Cacciola used PinSound technology to replace audio on his Fist of the North Star conversion. | | Pin2DMD | product/company | Open-source color DMD upgrade system for pinball machines. Simplified Cacciola's video display modification process by enabling ROM/EEPROM text conversion to video overlays. | | Fist of the North Star | game | Homebrew pinball conversion based on Roller Games. Cacciola's first major homebrew project, completed in 2020 during COVID lockdown. Uses Okutonoken anime theme. | | Roller Games | game | Classic pinball machine (manufacturer not specified in content) used as the base platform for Cacciola's Fist of the North Star conversion. Cacciola chose to preserve the original software/mechanics. | | Lupin III | game | Homebrew pinball conversion by Cacciola based on the Diner pinball machine. Conversion of anime Lupin theme, completed approximately one year after Fist of the North Star. | | Diner | game | Classic pinball machine used as base platform for Cacciola's Lupin III conversion. Selected due to matching letter/number count on playfield. | | Bud Spencer & Terence Hill | game | In-progress homebrew pinball project by Cacciola based on the Italian action film duo. Will use PP-System open-source control platform for software modifications. | | PP-System | product | Open-source pinball control system (also referenced as MK-47 system). Allows full customization of rules, sounds, video, and software via Raspberry Pi or PC connection. | | Chicago Pinball Expo | event | Pinball exposition where Cacciola exhibited his custom pinball modifications and received positive community reception. | | EPC 2025 | event | European Pinball Championship 2025 event where Cacciola presented his homebrew projects and customization business. | | Okutonoken | game/media | Anime series that inspired Cacciola's first homebrew conversion. Cacciola recognized matching letter/number patterns between anime and Roller Games playfield. | ### Topics - **Primary:** Homebrew pinball game conversions, PinSound audio customization technology, Pin2DMD display upgrade implementation, Open-source pinball control systems (PP-System/MK-47), Commercial pinball machine customization and aesthetics - **Secondary:** Pinball as art and design philosophy, Community reception of machine modifications vs purist philosophy, Technical challenges in retrofitting classic machines ### Sentiment **Positive** (0.82) — Cacciola expresses genuine passion and enthusiasm for pinball customization work. Positive reception at community events (Chicago Pinball Expo). Acknowledges technical challenges but frames them as surmountable learning experiences. Minor tension noted regarding purist community members who oppose modifications, but framed as ultimately appreciative of the work. ### Signals - **[sentiment_shift]** Positive reception of custom pinball aesthetic modifications at Chicago Pinball Expo despite concerns from traditional purist community members, indicating growing acceptance of modification culture. (confidence: medium) — Cacciola noted that at Chicago Pinball Expo 'they went crazy for my airpods' and acknowledged purists 'want to kill me' but considers them appreciative of the work. - **[market_signal]** Anime-themed pinball conversions gaining traction as viable homebrew project category, with multiple successful completions (Fist of the North Star, Lupin III) and Cacciola's methodology becoming documentable template. (confidence: medium) — Cacciola completed two anime conversions (Okutonoken/Fist of the North Star and Lupin III) using systematic approach of matching base game letter/number layouts to anime themes. - **[technology_signal]** Open-source PP-System (MK-47) pinball control platform enabling full software/rules/audio/video customization represents alternative to proprietary Stern/JJP platforms for homebrew builders. (confidence: high) — Cacciola planning to use open-source PP-System for Bud Spencer & Terence Hill machine: 'you can change everything. Rules, sounds, video, and so on' via PC or Raspberry Pi. - **[technology_signal]** Pin2DMD adoption significantly reduced development time and complexity for display customization in classic machine conversions by enabling ROM text conversion to video overlays rather than manual ROM reprogramming. (confidence: high) — Cacciola stated Pin2DMD 'was easier to take take the words of the display and change them into videos' compared to his previous method of reprogramming ROM files 300+ times. --- ## Transcript He will give an overview about the company, what he has, a steel shot pinball, steel shot, and the product what he is doing, what you can purchase here, and about the Homebrew project. How good you are, Luke in the third, and the third one you say in Italian because I will spell it wrong. In English they call me Trinity, and in German I don't try because I don't know how to say The left and right hand of the devil. But Spencer and Terence. Head of the devil. Yes. It's quite impossible for me. I hand over to you. Thank you. Thank you very much. Good morning everybody. I don't know if some of you can speak Italian because my English is not so good. So I miss some words. and maybe someone can help me. By the way, I started collecting pinball in 2010, 2011, and my wish has always been doing my own pinball from the beginning. It's still a dream of mine because I just reteam them. it's not so easy to build a pinball from zero because you have to think about playfield ramps, the shoots and imagine where the ball has to go and to come back, it's not so easy. So I decided to first re-team some pinballs, one pinball and when I was younger I was used to look at Okutonoken anime and I thought it could be a great theme for a pinball. When I saw Roller Games, something changed in my mind because I've seen that in the playfield of Roller Games the same number of letters was the same of Okutonoken. And here I started imagining what I had to do. For example, in roller games, I don't know if you know the play field of the pinball, you have an eight that enlighten when you play. This eight could be transformed in the seven stars of Kenshiro. And I did it in my play field. Now I started to think about how to do it, because the problem was the software. As I told before, try to understand how to do the shot of the ball, and I decided to let it as it was, because Raller Games, anyway, it's a good game. And why change it? So I had to think about just the graphics the sounds and the video part about graphics was not a problem because i tried with software like photoshop or something like that thank you and was not a problem i had to think about how to do with sounds and I asked to Nicolas of Pinsound, okay I asked to Nicolas and he told me that Roller Games was good for Pinsound so I bought Pinsound and I studied about the sound I had to place on my pinball. It took me about two months I had to take every single sound of the of the pinball and change it so one sound look on the people where it it is for example the the target okay it has to do this thing so I can put this kind of sound and and it's been crazy because there are about 300-400 sounds and I was going crazy. And finished it, I had to think about the video part. And the video part has been the hardest because all the games is not numeric pinball. It has just numbers and letters. And I didn't know how to change them. So I thought that I could take the apron files, open it in a decimal. Is it correct? When you open in a decimal. Okay. And I saw there were the word, the word that came out in the display. and I tried to change the letters and I've seen that the letters appears on my people's so I I tried to change every single word as I needed and this has been a hard hard work because I had to program the air from about 300 times because every word was correct or was not and so it was really really hard and and long after that after a couple of years the pin to gmd came in my help because they invented a board that the pin to the md could be placed on system 11 and they what is it was easier to take take the words of the display and change them into videos. So the Occult on a Can started in this way. I finished it about in one year. I started it in 2020 during COVID, because I had nothing to do. And I finished in one year. Then a friend of mine asked me about redeeming another pinball with Lupin because Lupin was another anime that I looked at when I was young but not as Okutonoken. And I saw that Diner had the same letters, same question as the Okutonoken. Okutonoken, roller games, Diner, Lupin. So I decided to do the Lupin, and I did the same. and about after another year, Dupin became ready. Now I'm trying to do the Bud Spencer one because, same as before, it was something that I looked at TV when I was young with my father. And I think that here and in Italy, Bud Spencer and Terence Hill are very, very famous. so I tried to understand how to do and but this time I wanted to change even the software because I found a German guy his nickname is MK 47 that he invented the PP John Youssi system this is an open source system you can find him and the system online on github there are all the projects you have to to take this board inside the head and then like like stern you can cable it under the play field with the node and in the node you connect switches coils lamps and what you want And with this system, they use a PC or I think a Raspberry, and you can change everything. Rules, sounds, video, and so on. Now I finish the graphic part. I have to start with hardware and software and cable. This guy will help me, but I think it won't be absolutely easy. In the meantime, as you can imagine, I'm a pinball addicted, but not playing because I don't know how to play pinball. I like the machines. For me, they are art. And I go crazy for them, I try to make them my life, because in the life, as you can see, I have the website where I sell my stuff, and I rent people in bars in my city. And I think to let them be more beautiful with my products. There are the, I don't know the English term, but the purists, the ones who don't change even the lamps that want to kill me But I think they are the people appreciate what I do because last year I went to Chicago Pinball Expo and they went crazy for my airpods most of all. I can do them in every single finisher. I project by myself what everything you John Youssi obviously I have to use the original logos and and something else that I I do but and these are what I what I do I started to do this side rails and after I imagined that I could put illumination under the the aprons so I started to do aprons with the laser cut and these plastic sheets under it that then lighted this great result maybe I think I finish what I had to say if you have some question or something else. Thank you. Me, in a certain way, because I found pictures on the net and I placed them I put the sponge in the background and I try to play with them I I didn't design them where is my pinball yeah yeah I didn't design it I found it and I place but yes yes of course everything tell you John Youssi I do by my own except for painting this is a friend of mine that she's crazy I don't really know and know how to do this this kind of stuff I do them with 3d printing I have a resin to reprint, filament, it's correct, filament to reprint. I had laser cut for plastic. I bought a CNC to cut wood. And in fact, you can see I even produced cabinets. Yeah. But painting is not my job. That's all. I think I finished. Thank you very much. _(Acquisition: youtube_groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_ --- *Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 022f8e4d-4a68-4851-9474-8a215e92bca4*