Spooky Pinball News Bites

Knapp Arcade·article·analyzed·May 2, 2022

Analysis

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TL;DR

Spooky Pinball expanding programming team; next game in development with improved launch code.

Summary

Knapp Arcade reports on Spooky Pinball's expansion plans following a Wisconsin arcade tour and Midwest Gaming Classic attendance. The manufacturer is hiring additional programmers and planning improved code quality for its next release after Halloween/Ultraman. A European distributor's website suggests a potential Total Nuclear Annihilation rerun, though confirmation is unclear.

Key Claims

Spooky Pinball has two full-time programmers in house and is in talks to hire two more
high confidence · Spooky Luke posts on Pinside; directly attributed to company communications
Spooky plans to have much more complete code on the next game at launch
high confidence · Spooky Luke posts on Pinside; stated as company intention
RS Pinball GmbH website indicates Spooky Pinball will produce Total Nuclear Annihilation again
medium confidence · Knapp notes uncertainty about whether this is speculation or confirmed information; specifications not finalized
There are rumblings that Spooky is working on another music pin
low confidence · Knapp states 'I have heard rumblings' but notes 'that may not be the next game in the queue'; unconfirmed speculation

Notable Quotes

“Spooky plans to have much more complete code on the next game at launch. They have two full-time programmers in house now and Spooky is in talks to hire two more.”
Knapp Arcade (citing Spooky Luke/Pinside posts) — Confirms Spooky's commitment to improving code quality and development capacity
“Spooky Pinball will produce the Total Nuclear Annihilation again. with this order you will be placed on the interest list for this game. The specification for the rerun are not finalized yet.”
RS Pinball GmbH website — Indicates potential TNA rerun in production pipeline, though specificity and confirmation level unclear
“I wonder if this is just general speculation or if they know something about another run of TNA between the current Halloween / Ultraman run and Spooky's next release?”
Knapp Arcade — Highlights uncertainty about RS Pinball's information source and reliability

Entities

Spooky PinballcompanySpooky Lukeperson Knapp ArcadepersonRS Pinball GmbHcompanyRobperson Midwest Gaming Classicevent Total Nuclear Annihilationgame Scott Danesiperson

Signals

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business_signal: Spooky Pinball demonstrating growth through staffing expansion and commitment to improved development practices
high · Concrete hiring plans and explicit commitment to better code quality at launch indicate business expansion and operational maturity
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event_signal: Midwest Gaming Classic held in Wisconsin with significant Spooky Pinball presence
high · Knapp reports major booth presence and multiple photos of display; home state advantage noted
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personnel_signal: Spooky Pinball expanding programming team from 2 to potentially 4 full-time programmers
high · Spooky Luke posts confirm 2 current programmers and 2 more being recruited; demonstrates scaling of technical development capacity
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product_concern: Spooky emphasizing more complete code at launch suggests prior releases had incomplete code at shipping
medium · Direct statement that company plans 'much more complete code on the next game at launch' implies previous games shipped with less complete code
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product_strategy: Spooky's next game after Halloween/Ultraman combo is in development; potential music-themed title in pipeline
medium · Knapp reports 'rumblings' of music pin, but notes uncertain position in release queue; unconfirmed speculation
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Topics

Manufacturer expansion and development capacityprimaryCode quality and game launch improvementsprimaryUpcoming game announcements and pipelineprimaryPotential Total Nuclear Annihilation rerunsecondaryMusic-themed pinball gamessecondaryMidwest Gaming Classic event coveragementioned

Sentiment

positive(0.75)— Knapp expresses enthusiasm about Spooky's growth plans and event presence. Positive language around code improvements and hiring. Speculative tone on TNA rerun reflects curiosity rather than negativity. Overall supportive of Spooky's trajectory.

Transcript

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Good morning everyone. I'm back from a successful Wisconsin pinball trip late last week. Rob and I hit four awesome arcades and of course spent two days at the Midwest Gaming Classic. I'm sifting through the hundreds of pictures that we took on the trip and will get up reports on all the locations and the show soon. In the meantime we're back to our regularly scheduled quick news articles here. I have a couple of interesting tidbits on Spooky Pinball this morning. According to Spooky Luke posts up on Pinside, the company is already hard at work on its next game after the Halloween / Ultraman combo. Spooky plans to have much more complete code on the next game at launch. They have two full-time programmers in house now and Spooky is in talks to hire two more. The question remains...what will Spooky's next pinball machine be? I have heard rumblings that Spooky is working on another music pin, but that may not be the next game in the queue. Also of note, one of my favorite European Pinball Distributors, RS Pinball GmbH (I don't actually know them personally, but they sure do share a lot of cool info :) ) has a page on its website that says the following: "Spooky Pinball will produce the Total Nuclear Annihilation again. with this order you will be placed on the interest list for this game. The specification for the rerun are not finalized yet." I wonder if this is just general speculation or if they know something about another run of TNA between the current Halloween / Ultraman run and Spooky's next release? I could totally see that happening. I definitely think that there's solid demand for another run of Scott Danesi's masterpiece. Spooky Pinball had a big presence at last weekend's Midwest Gaming Classic, which isn't surprising considering the fact that the event was held in their home state. Below is a bunch of pics of their great display at the event. The second picture of the group below of the Ultraman side art on a CE Butter Cab looks sweet.