Planetary Pinball Threats Spur Changes to Updated Whirlwind Code

Knapp Arcade·article·held·Mar 24, 2022

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.019

TL;DR

Cease and desist forces Whirlwind homebrew code project to rebrand as 'Storm Blasters'

Summary

Planetary Pinball issued a cease and desist order to the developer of an unofficial Whirlwind code update project that had been in development for seven years. The developer, known as 'applejuice', has responded by rebranding the project from 'Whirlwind' to 'Storm Blasters The Pinball Adventure' and removing all Williams/WPC references from the game. The article discusses the broader context of fan-made code projects and questions why Planetary Pinball wouldn't collaborate with independent developers on homebrew improvements.

Key Claims

Planetary Pinball issued a cease and desist order to the developer of an unofficial Whirlwind code update
high confidence · Knapp Arcade article opening; confirmed by applejuice's detailed response on Pinside
Whirlwind code project had been in development for seven years
high confidence · Knapp Arcade article headline and opening paragraph
The new code uses 0% of the original Williams 6809 codebase and all graphics are newly created, not derived from Williams assets
high confidence · applejuice's detailed statement on Pinside regarding original hardware design, code, and DMD graphics
Planetary Pinball licensed 'The Forgotten Tales' code for Tales of the Arabian Nights to Mirco rather than Chicago Gaming Company or Pedretti Gaming
medium confidence · Knapp Arcade article commentary; described as opinion ('IMHO') that this may have been a missed opportunity
Whirlwind and Williams logos were previously visible in the attract mode and have now been removed
high confidence · applejuice's statement: 'previously a re-creation of the whirlwind & williams logo present in dmd form for 1 slide each on the attract mode, which have since been REMOVED'

Notable Quotes

“Planetary Pinball should be honored that people still care enough about its intellectual property to dedicate years of their lives to improving it.”
Knapp Arcade (article author) — Frames the cease and desist as potentially short-sighted from a business and community goodwill perspective
“The game is a DMD game not an alphanumeric game and uses newly created graphic frames, all redrawn and coloured by myself. No raw WMS DMD assets are in use”
applejuice (Pinside post) — Core claim that the project is entirely original work, not derivative of Williams IP
“This project is NOT YET officially licenced. It is an original product.”
applejuice (Pinside post) — Clarification that despite the cease and desist, the developer maintains the work is original; suggests potential path to future official licensing
“in compliance with information received and as a show of good faith. I have created a new original logo and game name for this product instead , 'Storm Blasters'”
applejuice (Pinside post) — Demonstrates developer's willingness to cooperate with Planetary Pinball's demands; rebranding is a concession

Entities

Planetary PinballcompanyapplejuicepersonWhirlwindgameStorm Blasters The Pinball AdventureproductTales of the Arabian NightsgameThe Forgotten TalesproductMircocompany

Signals

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regulatory_signal: Planetary Pinball issued a cease and desist order to developer of homebrew Whirlwind code update, forcing rebranding and removal of Williams IP references
high · Article opening: 'After receiving a cease and desist order from the rightsholder of Bally / Williams games, Planetary Pinball, the individual who has been working on new code for Whirlwind for seven years has made several changes to the project.'
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community_signal: Debate within pinball community about whether IP holders should collaborate with independent developers on fan-made code improvements versus enforcing strict IP protection
high · Article commentary questions whether Planetary Pinball should allow hobby developers to create and beta-test code with hopes of future commercialization; draws parallel to successful Tales of the Arabian Nights licensing model
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technology_signal: Developer claims entirely original hardware design (100% custom electronic designs & firmware) and original software codebase (0% Williams 6809 code) with newly created DMD graphics
high · applejuice's detailed technical statement specifying original design in all aspects: hardware, code, graphics, and speaker panel artwork
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product_strategy: Planetary Pinball has established a licensing model for homebrew code updates (Tales of the Arabian Nights to Mirco); article questions why similar collaboration wasn't offered for Whirlwind project
medium · Article states: 'The new updated "The Forgotten Tales" code for Williams Tales of the Arabian Nights started out as a homebrew project that Planetary Pinball was easily able to monetize by farming it out to Mirco'
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Transcript

raw_text · $0.000

After receiving a cease and desist order from the rightsholder of Bally / Williams games, Planetary Pinball, the individual who has been working on new code for Whirlwind for seven years has made several changes to the project. The main change is a brand new name for the game "Storm Blasters The Pinball Adventure" and the elimination of any references to WPC aka Williams Pinball Company in the attract mode. Planetary Pinball should be honored that people still care enough about its intellectual property to dedicate years of their lives to improving it. The new updated "The Forgotten Tales" code for Williams Tales of the Arabian Nights started out as a homebrew project that Planetary Pinball was easily able to monetize by farming it out to Mirco (mistakenly doing so when they could have worked with Chicago Gaming Company or Pedretti IMHO). So why not let a few individuals create and beta test new Whirlwind code as a hobby without selling it in the hopes that it too could be jointly commercialized one day? Below is an update on the new code and the changes that have been made to it that the coder "applejuice" shared on Pinside: "IMPORTANT INFORMATION. Please read if you are interested in this 7 year project: Some people have got in touch to tell me there may be confusion over whether this project is an officially licenced product from the Williams rights holders. I want to make clear that this project is NOT YET officially licenced. It is an original product. In the aid of transparency and to avoid any confusion please see the following points regarding the project: 1) My hardware board is 100% original using my own electronic designs & firmware. 2) The game code is 100% original and uses 0% of the original Williams 6809 code base ('rom code') 3) There is no way with my hardware to run the original Williams Whirlwind game or any other original 'rom code' 4) The game is a DMD game not an alphanumeric game and uses newly created graphic frames, all redrawn and coloured by myself. No raw WMS DMD assets are in use 5) The speaker panel plastic artwork created to use with our dmd panels contains no williams logos and only standard wording. All art is original.As the system runs on owners own Whirlwind games there was (previously) a re-creation of the whirlwind & williams logo present in dmd form for 1 slide each on the attract mode, which have since been REMOVED, in compliance with information received and as a show of good faith. I have created a new original logo and game name for this product instead , 'Storm Blasters' which i will share below. (UKCS Registration Number: 284745765)"