Pinball 2000 News

Pinball News Website·article·analyzed·Jul 28, 2009

Analysis

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TL;DR

Pinball 2000 platform receives hardware upgrade and tournament software improvements in 2009.

Summary

This 2009 Pinball News article reports on developments for the aging Pinball 2000 platform, including the shipment of Nucore replacement computer systems from Big Guys Pinball after two years of development, and improvements to tournament software for Revenge From Mars and Star Wars Episode 1 machines. The article also documents the public release of original Williams tournament software and Jim Askey's V1.2 online tournament system enhancements.

Key Claims

Nucore replacement computer system began shipping to pre-order customers on July 28, 2009 after two years of development
high confidence · First systems shipped to pre-order buyers on the article date; developed to eliminate weaknesses of original computer
First pre-order batch was accepted March 18-April 24 through Pinball Life, with subsequent batches expected late August/early September
high confidence · Direct statement of pre-order timeline and fulfillment schedule
Jim Askey released V1.2 software for his online Revenge From Mars tournament system with expanded division structure
high confidence · Detailed description of new features: 3 divisions instead of 1, new high score tables, enhanced backup facility
Williams original tournament software made freely available through pinballz.net forum in Java format
high confidence · Chris Heilmann & Martin Wiest released software with documentation; usable with or without barcode reader
Original Williams tournament system used 12 Star Wars Episode 1 machines at 1999 Pinball Expo Flip Out in Chicago
high confidence · Historical documentation of original system design and implementation

Notable Quotes

“Despite having no new games manufactured for nine years, Pinball 2000 continues to be popular and there has recently been some good news for fans and owners of the system.”
Pinball News @ Opening — Sets context for aging platform still receiving support and upgrades
“After two years of development and negotiations, the first systems will ship to pre-order buyers today.”
Pinball News @ Mid-article — Confirms Nucore system launch milestone
“With the future of Revenge From Mars and Star Wars Episode 1 machines secured thanks to Chuck and Don, thoughts can now turn to possible development of new games for the Pinball 2000 platform.”
Pinball News @ Mid-article — Suggests potential for future P2K game development after hardware stabilization

Entities

Pinball 2000productNucoreproductBig Guys PinballcompanyPinball LifecompanyJim AskeypersonStar Wars Episode 1gameRevenge From MarsgameWilliamscompanyChris Heilmannperson

Signals

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community_signal: Aftermarket ecosystem maintaining and extending Pinball 2000 platform viability through replacement hardware and open-source tournament software
high · Nucore system, Jim Askey's online tournament system, and public release of Williams tournament software all supporting aging platform
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product_strategy: Nucore replacement computer system eliminates weaknesses of original Pinball 2000 architecture after two years development
high · Direct statement: 'developed to eliminate the inherent weaknesses of the original computer and provide a number of significant improvements'
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technology_signal: Internet-enabled tournament infrastructure allowing geographically distributed competitive play on legacy pinball machines
high · Jim Askey system connects machines worldwide via network cards; original Williams system used networked machines with centralized scoring

Topics

Pinball 2000 platform hardware upgradesprimaryTournament software and competitive play infrastructureprimaryCommunity support for aging platformssecondaryInternet connectivity in pinball machinessecondary

Sentiment

positive(0.85)— Article celebrates successful completion of Nucore development, improved tournament infrastructure, and continued community support for aging platform. Framing emphasizes positive developments and forward momentum.

Transcript

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Date: 28th July 2009 Despite having no new games manufactured for nine years, Pinball 2000 continues to be popular and there has recently been some good news for fans and owners of the system. As regular readers of Pinball News will know, the Nucore replacement computer system from Big Guys Pinball has been developed to eliminate the inherent weaknesses of the original computer and provide a number of significant improvements. The path to production has been a long one, but their efforts have come to fruition. After two years of development and negotiations, the first systems will ship to pre-order buyers today. The first group of pre-orders were accepted from March 18th to April 24th through Pinball Life and will be fulfilled first . Then, when the next batch of boards arrive in late August or early September, later pre-orders will ship. Soon after, the Nucore system will be available from stock. A Nucore-equipped Star Wars Episode 1 machine With the future of Revenge From Mars and Star Wars Episode 1 machines secured thanks to Chuck and Don, thoughts can now turn to possible development of new games for the Pinball 2000 platform. Meanwhile, competitive play on existing Pinball 2000 games received a boost with a number of improvements to one tournament system and the public release of the original Williams tournament software. Jim Askey has released the new V1.2 software for his on-line Revenge From Mars tournament system. By installing a network card and connecting your game to the internet, it becomes part of a worldwide tournament. Jim Askey's online tournament The new version increases the number of division from 1 to 3, adding Martian Champion and Attack Mars Champion high score tables to the original main score rankings. There is also an enhanced score backup facility with online access to your high score history, recent scores and machine status. Jim also has a new logo which he intends to have printed on t-shirts and perhaps stickers to easily identify machines connected to the tournament system. Jim's system built on the ideas from the original Pinball 2000 tournament system developed by the Williams programmers for the 1999 Pinball Expo Flip Out tournament in Chicago. The 12 Star Wars Episode 1 machines used for the original tournament That system used a network card to connect all 12 machines to one central computer which used a bar code reader to identify individual players, keep track of the number of credits they had remaining and record their end-of-game scores. The system made a come back at the 2006 European Pinball Championship held in Munich. It featured a number of enhancements and could simultaneously track multiple RFM and SW-E1 machine scores. The EPC 2006 tournament machines Now Chris Heilmann & Martin Wiest have made the full tournament system available for free public download through the German pinballz.net forum. The software is written in Java and comes with extensive documentation about how to install the necessary hardware and software. Like the original, it needs a network card and a barcode reader to be used in a tournament, but can be installed and run without the barcode reader. The documentation for the P2K tournament system You can Read Martin Wiest's notes and download the software and the accompanying documentation through Pinballz.net by clicking here. Back to the News page Back to the front page