News from American Pinball, Spooky Pinball, Dutch Pinball & Stern Pinball

Knapp Arcade·article·analyzed·Oct 7, 2022

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.015

TL;DR

Four manufacturers release code updates and announce upcoming releases.

Summary

Industry catch-up covering four manufacturers: American Pinball announced Classic Legends of Valhalla coming to Pinball Expo in October with no new game announcement yet; Spooky Pinball released Total Nuclear Annihilation Version 1.5 with new Jukebox Mode and features; Dutch Pinball is beta testing Version 1.0 code scheduled for release this month; Stern Pinball released TMNT code 1.54 ahead of final production run and confirmed Guardians of the Galaxy Pro in Factory Friday update.

Key Claims

American Pinball Classic Legends of Valhalla coming soon, debuting at Pinball Expo October 19-22
high confidence · Official announcement from American Pinball; Knapp Arcade reporting
Rumor that American Pinball would announce new game on October 5th was false
medium confidence · Author's sourcing from industry contacts; stated as hearsay ('according to what I was hearing')
Total Nuclear Annihilation Version 1.5 is now live with Jukebox Mode, spinner rip counter, new song, and improved Scorebit integration
high confidence · Scott Danesi announcement via Spooky Pinball; Knapp Arcade reporting
Dutch Pinball Version 1.0 code beta testing scheduled for release this month
high confidence · Dutch Pinball official communication via Knapp Arcade
Stern Pinball TMNT code 1.54 released ahead of final production run later this month
high confidence · Stern official statement; Knapp Arcade reporting

Notable Quotes

“It's been a fairly quiet week news-wide in the hobby and I was busy doing things that actually pay LOL”
Knapp Arcade (author) @ Opening — Establishes the casual, informal tone and acknowledges sparse news week
“Classic version of its Legends of Valhalla pinball machine is 'coming soon'”
American Pinball @ Section 1 — Official announcement of Classic tier release and Expo appearance
“Code version 1.54 contains 'numerous game enhancements, additional polish, game adjustments, and bug fixes.'”
Stern Pinball @ Section 4 — Details scope of TMNT final production run code polish

Entities

American PinballcompanySpooky PinballcompanyDutch PinballcompanyStern PinballcompanyScott Danesiperson Legends of Valhallagame Total Nuclear Annihilationgame Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtlesgame

Signals

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announcement: American Pinball announcing Classic Legends of Valhalla for Pinball Expo October 19-22
high · Official announcement; specific venue and date provided
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product_strategy: TMNT code 1.54 released ahead of final production run with enhancements and bug fixes
high · Stern official statement describing 'numerous game enhancements, additional polish, game adjustments, and bug fixes'
?
product_strategy: Dutch Pinball Version 1.0 code in beta testing with scheduled release this month; includes new music, animations, video clips, callouts, and Wizard Mode
high · Dutch Pinball official update; specific features listed
?
rumor_hype: Rumor that American Pinball would announce new game on October 5th was circulating but author confirms it was inaccurate
medium · Author states: 'There was a rumor floating around out there that AP was going to show it on October 5th, but according to what I was hearing that was never the case'
?
technology_signal: Total Nuclear Annihilation Version 1.5 introduces Jukebox Mode and improved Scorebit integration, indicating ongoing software innovation for mature title
high · Scott Danesi announcement; specific feature list provided

Transcript

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It's been a fairly quiet week news-wide in the hobby and I was busy doing things that actually pay LOL, so here's a catch-up post covering a few recent news odds and ends. 1) First off, a couple of hours ago, American Pinball announced that the Classic version of its Legends of Valhalla pinball machine is "coming soon." The company is bringing it to Pinball Expo, which takes place in Chicago from October 19th through the 22nd. There's still no official word from the company on its next game. There was a rumor floating around out there that AP was going to show it on October 5th, but according to what I was hearing that was never the case and it wasn't really even close to happening. 2) Next up we have Spooky Pinball. Scott Danesi, the creator of Spooky's popular Total Nuclear Annihilation pin, recently announced that his new code for the game, Version 1.5, is now live. As I mentioned here previously, the new code includes a new Jukebox Mode. In addition to that it also has cool additions like a spinner rip counter, spinner rip high score tables, a new in-game song and improved Scorebit integration. The code is available for download on existing TNAs now and will be included in Spooky's new production run games. 3) Dutch Pinball is currently beta testing Version 1.0 of its code. It is currently scheduled for release this month. The new code includes new music, new animations, new video clips, new callouts, Wizard Mode and a number of tweaks to the game. 4) Ahead of its final production run later this month, Stern Pinball released new code for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Code version 1.54 contains "numerous game enhancements, additional polish, game adjustments, and bug fixes." UPDATE: This afternoon Stern also shared its Factory Friday update, showing Guardians of the Galaxy Pro still on the line.