# Think Inside the Box **Source:** Pinball News Website **Type:** article **Published:** 2006-05-12 **Beat:** Pinball **URL:** https://www.pinballnews.com/news/video2.html --- ## Analysis GlobalVR partnered with UltraCade Technologies to commercialize Visual Pinball, creating Ultrapin—a PC-based virtual pinball arcade cabinet with a traditional pinball cabinet form factor. The machine features 12 licensed Williams and Bally game emulations on a 32-inch flat panel display with real plunger and motion sensors, and was showcased at the ASI trade show in Chicago in March 2006. ### Key Claims - [HIGH] GlobalVR and UltraCade Technologies partnered in December 2005 to produce arcade emulators including a pinball emulator — _Directly stated; sourced from The Stinger Report industry newsletter_ - [HIGH] Ultrapin features 12 classic Williams and Bally game emulations — _Explicit list provided: Medieval Madness, Black Knight 2000, Fathom, Pinbot, Eight Ball Champ, Attack From Mars, Firepower, Funhouse, Xenon, F14 Tomcat, Strikes And Spares, Sorcerer_ - [HIGH] The cabinet uses a 32-inch flat panel display replacing the original cathode-ray tube — _Direct technical specification stated in article_ - [HIGH] Ultrapin has a real plunger and motion sensors for nudging and tilting emulation — _Explicitly described feature of final machine_ - [HIGH] The machine was first shown at the ASI show in Chicago in March 2006 — _Direct statement in article_ - [MEDIUM] Further Williams and Bally games are expected to be available as Ultrapin table packs for purchase — _Stated as expectation; no specific titles or timeline provided_ ### Notable Quotes > "By combining Visual Pinball with VPinMAME and writing their own code to interface with the hardware and manage the audit information, they created a commercial arcade machine called Ultrapin." > — **Article author** > _Describes the technical foundation and development approach for Ultrapin_ > "The cathode-ray tube of the original has been replaced by a 32-inch flat panel display and the whole package is now housed in a traditional pinball-shaped cabinet (although it is slightly smaller) making it much more recognisable and - perhaps - more acceptable to fans of the real deal." > — **Article author** > _Highlights design evolution addressing acceptability to pinball enthusiasts_ ### Entities | Name | Type | Context | |------|------|---------| | GlobalVR | company | PC-based arcade game manufacturer; partner in Ultrapin development | | UltraCade Technologies | company | American arcade games manufacturer; partner in Ultrapin partnership | | Visual Pinball | product | Freeware pinball emulator that forms the basis of Ultrapin | | Ultrapin | product | Commercial virtual pinball arcade cabinet by GlobalVR with 12 Williams/Bally games | | VPinMAME | product | Arcade emulator component integrated with Visual Pinball for Ultrapin | | Williams | company | Pinball game manufacturer whose games are licensed for Ultrapin | | Bally | company | Pinball game manufacturer whose games are licensed for Ultrapin | | Electrocoin | company | UK distributor of Ultrapin | | The Stinger Report | organization | Amusement and attraction e-newsletter; original news source for this story | | ATEI | event | Trade show in January 2006 where Ultrapin development version was shown | | ASI | event | Trade show in Chicago, March 2006 where Ultrapin was first exhibited in final form | ### Topics - **Primary:** Virtual pinball technology commercialization, Licensing of classic Williams and Bally games - **Secondary:** Arcade cabinet hardware design and form factor, Emulation software integration (Visual Pinball, VPinMAME) - **Mentioned:** Operator features (bookkeeping, audit information) ### Sentiment **Positive** (0.75) — Article presents Ultrapin as a significant advancement in virtual pinball with practical design improvements (flat panel, traditional cabinet shape) that address aesthetic concerns from pinball fans. Tone is promotional but grounded in technical details. ### Signals - **[licensing_signal]** Williams and Bally licensing their classic game library to virtual pinball cabinet manufacturer signals acceptance of digital pinball in commercial market (confidence: high) — 12 Williams and Bally titles licensed for Ultrapin; expectation of additional titles as table packs - **[announcement]** Ultrapin is a new commercial virtual pinball cabinet product announcement (confidence: high) — Machine first shown at ASI show Chicago March 2006; detailed specifications provided - **[technology_signal]** Commercialization of freeware pinball emulation (Visual Pinball, VPinMAME) into licensed arcade cabinet format represents shift toward legitimizing virtual pinball as commercial product category (confidence: high) — GlobalVR/UltraCade partnership creating Ultrapin as commercial product with licensed Williams/Bally games and operator features --- ## Transcript Story dated May 12, 2006 . Information supplied from The Stinger Report, www.thestingerreport.com The push towards virtual pinball games continues with this game from GlobalVR. Our friends at The Stinger Report - the leading amusement and attraction e-newsletter - first broke the news about the link-up between Ultracade Technologies, the American arcade games manufacturer and the developers of the freeware pinball emulator Visual Pinball back in 2005. GlobalVR, the leading manufacturer of PC-based arcade games joined forces with UltraCade Technologies in December last year to produce a range of arcade emulators including a pinball emulator. By combining Visual Pinball with VPinMAME and writing their own code to interface with the hardware and manage the audit information, they created a commercial arcade machine called Ultrapin. We were able to show the development version produced with UK distributor Electrocoin in our ATEI trade show report in January of this year. At the time, the game was in the early stages of development but now, thanks to The Stinger Report we can bring you details of the finalised game. As you can see, the changes are substantial. The cathode-ray tube of the original has been replaced by a 32-inch flat panel display and the whole package is now housed in a traditional pinball-shaped cabinet (although it is slightly smaller) making it much more recognisable and - perhaps - more acceptable to fans of the real deal. The game now features 12 classic Williams and Bally emulations - Medieval Madness, Black Knight 2000, Fathom, Pinbot, Eight Ball Champ, Attack From Mars, Firepower, Funhouse, Xenon, F14 Tomcat, Strikes And Spares and Sorcerer. The games are licensed from Williams and further games are expected to be available to purchase as Ultrapin table packs. The second display in the backbox is split in two with the upper half showing the chosen game's backglass while the lower half acts like a dot-matrix display. There is a real plunger and motion sensors to emulate nudging and tilting. Full bookkeeping and audit information is also available to operators. The machine first appeared in this format at the ASI show in Chicago in March but at the time of writing is not yet available to purchase, nor is it on Global VR's website. Expect more details to appear there soon. Back to the news index Back to the front page _(Acquisition: raw_text, Enrichment: v1)_ --- *Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: c75f52e6-9069-4805-a571-eba70f5053fd*