# Cool New Homebrew Pinball Machine Eight Ball Beyond to Make Public Debut

**Source:** Knapp Arcade  
**Type:** article  
**Published:** 2023-05-04  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.knapparcade.org/cool-new-homebrew-pinball-machine-eight-ball-beyond-to-make-public-debut

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## Analysis

Eight Ball Beyond, a homebrew pinball machine by Sean Irby inspired by classic Bally Eight Ball games, will debut at the Northwest Pinball and Arcade Show (June 2-4) in Tacoma. The game features translite art by Johnny Crap (known for Stern's Jurassic Park) with playfield art yet to be revealed. Sean plans to give away eight translites at the show.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Eight Ball Beyond is a homebrew pinball machine created by Sean Irby — _Direct statement in article; confirmed by linked Pinside thread and Instagram_
- [HIGH] The translite was created by Johnny Crap, who designed art for Stern Pinball's Jurassic Park — _Explicitly stated in article; Johnny Crap's Jurassic Park work is verifiable_
- [HIGH] Eight Ball Beyond is a futuristic remake of the classic Bally Eight Ball series — _Direct description in article_
- [HIGH] Sean Irby plans to give away eight translites at the Northwest Pinball and Arcade Show — _Explicitly stated in article_
- [HIGH] Playfield art for Eight Ball Beyond is yet-to-be-revealed — _Explicitly stated in article_

### Notable Quotes

> "Created by Sean Irby, the game is a futuristic remake of the classic series of three Bally Eight Ball pinball machines."
> — **Article (Knapp Arcade)**
> _Primary description of the homebrew machine's concept and inspiration_

> "The amazing translite was created by the well-known artist who did the art for Stern Pinball's Jurassic Park, Johnny Crap."
> — **Article (Knapp Arcade)**
> _Establishes Johnny Crap's credential and involvement with Eight Ball Beyond_

> "Sean plans to give away eight of the game's translite to attendees of the show."
> — **Article (Knapp Arcade)**
> _Promotional detail specific to the Northwest Pinball and Arcade Show event_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Eight Ball Beyond | game | Homebrew pinball machine; futuristic remake of classic Bally Eight Ball series; created by Sean Irby; featuring art by Johnny Crap |
| Sean Irby | person | Creator/designer of Eight Ball Beyond homebrew pinball machine |
| Johnny Crap | person | Artist; created translite art for Eight Ball Beyond; also known for art design on Stern Pinball's Jurassic Park |
| Northwest Pinball and Arcade Show | event | Event taking place June 2-4 at Greater Tacoma Convention Center where Eight Ball Beyond will make its public debut |
| Greater Tacoma Convention Center | organization | Venue for Northwest Pinball and Arcade Show |
| Stern Pinball | company | Referenced as having released Jurassic Park, for which Johnny Crap did art design |
| Bally | company | Historic pinball manufacturer; created original Eight Ball series that inspired Eight Ball Beyond |
| Pinside | organization | Online pinball forum hosting Eight Ball Beyond development thread |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Homebrew pinball machines, Classic game remakes and spiritual successors, Pinball community events and shows
- **Secondary:** Pinball art and design, Pinball IP licensing and intellectual property

### Sentiment

**Positive** (0.85) — Article uses enthusiastic language ('awesome', 'amazing', 'neat-looking') to describe the homebrew machine and event. Tone is celebratory of the machine's debut and the community event.

### Signals

- **[event_signal]** Eight Ball Beyond homebrew machine making public debut at Northwest Pinball and Arcade Show, positioning the event as showcase for new homebrew/community creations (confidence: high) — Article explicitly announces public debut at June 2-4 event in Tacoma; includes promotional giveaway of translites
- **[design_philosophy]** Homebrew designer chose to create futuristic remix of classic Bally Eight Ball series, blending retro IP with contemporary design sensibility (confidence: medium) — Described as 'futuristic remake of the classic series of three Bally Eight Ball pinball machines'

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## Transcript

The Northwest Pinball and Arcade Show just announced that the awesome new homebrew pinball machine Eight Ball Beyond will make its first public appearance at the upcoming event, which takes place at the Greater Tacoma Convention Center from June 2 through 4.

Created by Sean Irby, the game is a futuristic remake of the classic series of three Bally Eight Ball pinball machines. The amazing translite was created by the well-known artist who did the art for Stern Pinball's Jurassic Park, Johnny Crap. Johnny also did the yet-to-be-revealed playfield art for the game.

Sean plans to give away eight of the game's translite to attendees of the show.

Below are a number of videos and pictures of the neat-looking game and links to the Eight Ball Beyond development thread on Pinside, Sean's Instagram page and the website for the Northwest Pinball and Arcade Show.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/eight-ball-beyond

https://www.instagram.com/sean.t.irby/

https://www.nwpinballshow.com/

_(Acquisition: raw_text, Enrichment: v1)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: e818412b-723a-4a05-a150-dd58668a4b2f*