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Marco Pinball showcases Big Trouble in Little China homebrew at TPF 2026 with gameplay and discussion of homebrew influence on the industry.
Kyle Smet's Big Trouble in Little China homebrew looks like a commercial-quality game ready for release
high confidence · Ralph explicitly states: 'Like if this was being sold I I would be like, Oh yeah, it looks ready to go. This could be on your next like reveal stream or whatever or or YouTube channel, right?' Jamie confirms: '100% could.'
Some homebrew designers are being hired by commercial manufacturers (e.g., Ryan McQuaid hired by American Pinball for Sonic)
high confidence · Manu mentions: 'some of the people making homebrew are getting hired' and specifically references Ryan McQuaid being hired by American to make Sonic pinball.
Fast Pinball's modular hardware design has enabled easier homebrew machine building
high confidence · Jamie discusses how Aaron from Fast Pinball made the system 'super modular and easy' with fail-safe connector design, and states: 'I can see why the homebrew community is adopting your platform.'
Stern and JJP manufacturers actively visit homebrew exhibits and show genuine interest in designs
medium confidence · Manu states: 'I watched last year at Expo, I mean, the Stern guys were coming and looking at everything. And they were excited. When you see a pinball manufacturer come over and play a homebrew and they're smiling the whole time, that says something, right?'
Commercial manufacturers may be monitoring homebrew games for both mechanical innovations and potential licensing themes
medium confidence · Ralph speculates: 'I do think they look at that' regarding whether companies monitor homebrew for both mechanics and licensing. Manu suggests: 'we look at the themes and go, Huh, we haven't done this before. Is it possible to get this license?'
The quality and production value of modern homebrews has evolved significantly from bare-wood machines of 5 years ago
high confidence · Jamie notes: 'the classic version of the homebrew is a bare wood with some stuff stable to it. And then hopefully maybe that was that way like 5 years ago. And then all of a sudden, you know, these machines are starting to come out like Saw and that was a really unbelievable machine.'
“Like if this was being sold I would be like, Oh yeah, it looks ready to go. This could be on your next like reveal stream or whatever or YouTube channel, right?”
Ralph@ 6:59 — Directly compares homebrew production quality to commercial manufacturer standards, establishing that Big Trouble in Little China meets professional release criteria.
“I can see why the homebrew community is adopting your platform... if the plug looks like it fits you can't break anything.”
Jamie@ 12:01 — Explains Fast Pinball's key competitive advantage—fail-safe design that lowers barriers to entry for homebrew builders.
“When you see a pinball manufacturer come over and play a homebrew and they're smiling the whole time, that says something, right? They are taking interest in what people are doing.”
Manu@ 13:35 — Observable signal of manufacturer interest in homebrew innovation; suggests informal research/inspiration gathering by commercial competitors.
“It's a it's the enabling of the community by companies like Fast Pinball and um you know all the companies that are coming out with node boards and stuff to make your life easier. This is why we kind of gone back to 20 guys making a pinball machine to like one guy in their garage making a pinball machine.”
Manu@ 10:06 — Documents the democratization of pinball machine production via accessible hardware platforms, reshaping homebrew viability.
“The art just like ties it all in. So it's they did a really good job on it. Like it to me homebrews are getting so good now that this looks like a commercial game to me.”
Ralph@ 6:51 — Benchmarks homebrew aesthetic against commercial standards; indicates production professionalism has reached industry parity.
design_innovation: Big Trouble in Little China features distinctive mechanical innovations including skull toy, fast whip-around ramp shot near skull, orbit mechanics with magnet features, and narrative-driven cutout scenes—mechanics participants compare favorably to established commercial titles.
high · Ralph notes: 'the ramp is really cool on the left. I love that it whips around... around the skull there's like it's fast though, so you got to be careful. But around the skull it does this like super fast whip 180 thing which is really cool.'
product_strategy: Commercial manufacturers are using homebrew section visibility at expos as informal R&D observation points, watching for both mechanical innovations and underexploited licensing themes to potentially acquire for commercial production.
medium · Manu observes manufacturers 'coming and looking at everything' with genuine excitement. Ralph speculates: 'maybe we should get that license.' Manu counters that manufacturers may seek mechanical ideas rather than IP licensing directly.
technology_signal: Fast Pinball's modular hardware architecture (node boards, fail-safe connectors, shaker motor expansion) has significantly lowered the technical and capital barriers to solo-builder homebrew production, shifting homebrew from team efforts to individual garage builds.
high · Manu states: 'This is why we kind of gone back to 20 guys making a pinball machine to like one guy in their garage making a pinball machine cuz they can buy all the stuff kind of.' Jamie confirms easy expandability: 'Aaron sends the shaker motor board and it was it was just super easy.'
personnel_signal: Commercial pinball manufacturers are actively recruiting successful homebrew designers (confirmed case: Ryan McQuit → American Pinball for Sonic), suggesting homebrew as a talent pipeline and proving ground.
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“I have very sweaty hands, man, like it's sweaty, and I feel like it's out of respect, really, because does anybody really want to put their hands on a sweaty lock bar?”
Ralph@ 5:32 — Contextualizes glove-wearing practice at tournaments/events; light-hearted but reveals community norms around machine etiquette.
“These look like some of the I mean, Kyle's games look like commercial games... Kyle's game didn't look like this when he first started. Um, no, I'm sure it's multiple iterations and takes time and tinkering and figuring out.”
[name withheld pending review]@ 3:14 — Acknowledges that high-quality homebrew output reflects iterative development and experience accumulation, not instant professionalism.
“I think they could look at different things from Top Gun to Tony Hawk to Saw to whatever Monster League Hockey and say hey there's some really cool mechs in here maybe we can look at something like that.”
Ralph@ 13:02 — Speculates on mechanical/design ideas (rather than IP licensing) as driver of manufacturer interest in homebrew innovation.
high · Manu states: 'some of the people making homebrew are getting hired... Ryan McQuit... got hired over at American originally that made Sonic.'
design_philosophy: Modern homebrew games have achieved professional-grade production values (artwork, build quality, rule depth, theme capture) equivalent to commercial releases, eliminating traditional quality gap between homebrew and manufactured machines.
high · Ralph: 'Like if this was being sold I would be like, Oh yeah, it looks ready to go. This could be on your next like reveal stream.' Jamie: 'the artwork is is like really spectacular.' Multiple participants note 5-year shift from bare-wood machines to polished builds.
community_signal: Homebrew sections at major expos (TPF, Pinball Expo, Houston Arcade Expo) have become central community attractions with welcoming ethos designed to onboard new builders without intimidation, reflecting deliberate curation by Marco Pinball and Fast Pinball.
high · Manu: 'we want creators and you never know what's going to come out of this... We never want to scare homebrew newbies off... don't let that scare you because Kyle's game didn't look like this when he first started.'
gameplay_signal: Big Trouble in Little China exhibits rule depth and discovery mechanics (mystery shots, moldy ball mode, multi-ball) consistent with competitive tournament-level games, despite being homebrew.
medium · Jamie playing blind: 'I have to figure out how to get the moldy ball. Obviously, I know it's the green shots in the middle... I like the mystery. I like the cutout scenes.'
market_signal: Nostalgia-driven IP choices dominate homebrew game themes (Big Trouble in Little China, Top Gun Maverick, Tony Hawk, Mad Max Fury Road). Commercial manufacturers may monitor homebrew theme choices as canary indicators for underexploited licensed properties.
medium · Ralph: 'homebrew ties into the nostalgia so much, like they usually choose like these real the ones that haven't been done yet.' Manu speculates manufacturers ask: 'Huh, we haven't done this before. Is it possible to get this license?'
content_signal: Marco Pinball uses extended gameplay showcase format with expert commentary to promote homebrew visibility, establish production quality benchmarks, and attract both casual and competitive audiences to homebrew section.
high · Structured gameplay showcase with three participants, competitive framing, mechanical analysis, and repeated emphasis on artwork/quality comparable to commercial games.
event_signal: Big Trouble in Little China drew sustained high player interest at Pinball Expo (referenced in earlier Marco Pinball interview with Kyle Smet) and continues to attract competitive play at TPF 2026, indicating strong community demand.
medium · Manu: 'the lines were super long' at Pinball Expo; featured prominently in TPF 2026 homebrew showcase with dedicated gameplay coverage.
community_signal: Jamie and Ralph conduct formal 11-game competitive challenge match at TPF 2026 with staked rewards (challenge coin), reflecting homebrew games' legitimacy as competitive tournament-level machines.
high · Manu describes the match format: 'we play 11 games and the first to six wins... the loser gets to choose the next game and then they go first... doing it for a challenge coin.'