ABOUT PINBALL NEWS

Pinball News Website·article·analyzed·Jan 1, 2000

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.012

TL;DR

Pinball News founding story and editorial independence principles.

Summary

Pinball News 'About' page introduces the publication's founding, mission, and editorial principles. Founded by Martin Ayub in late 1999 following Williams' pinball division closure, the site was created to provide independent coverage of the thriving pinball community when industry skeptics declared pinball dead. The publication operates without advertising, sponsorship, or subscriptions to maintain editorial independence and objectivity.

Key Claims

Williams' pinball division closed in November 1999, prompting widespread 'pinball is dead' sentiment
high confidence · Martin Ayub states this as the historical catalyst for founding Pinball News
Pinball News was founded at the end of 1999, developed from Martin Ayub's personal website of trade show reports
high confidence · Direct statement by founder about publication's origin
Pinball News operates with no advertising, sponsorship, subscriptions, or donations to guarantee independence
high confidence · Founding principle explicitly stated as core to editorial policy
Pinball News is collaborative work of dozens of contributing writers, not solely Martin Ayub's creation
high confidence · Ayub describes the publication's collective authorship model

Notable Quotes

“When that announcement came, everyone was saying pinball was dead, finished, buried. I disagreed.”
Martin Ayub @ N/A — Foundational statement of purpose — Ayub's contrarian assessment that drove creation of Pinball News as counter-narrative to industry death narrative
“What was needed was someone to speak out for them. To show the world that new games were still being made by Stern Pinball, that pinball machines were still being actively traded, that pinball shows were still being held and that all the pinballs out on site were still there to be played, still making money for operators and site owners.”
Martin Ayub @ N/A — Articulates Pinball News' core mission to document and legitimize ongoing pinball ecosystem post-Williams closure
“The only way to guarantee independence and the ability to provide objective reviews is for us to have no financial involvement with any companies in the business.”
Martin Ayub @ N/A — Explains foundational editorial principle of financial independence from industry

Entities

Martin AyubpersonPinball Newsorganization WilliamscompanyStern Pinballcompany

Signals

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business_signal: Williams pinball division closure in November 1999 marked significant industry inflection point; Stern Pinball emerged as primary manufacturer continuing production
high · Martin Ayub cites Williams closure as catalyst for founding Pinball News and notes Stern continued making new games
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community_signal: Pinball News created to serve thriving community of enthusiasts, home buyers, and collectors during period of industry skepticism
high · Ayub states 'I knew there was a vibrant community of pinball enthusiasts, home game buyers and avid collectors who hadn't suddenly vanished and still had a huge appetite for the game'

Topics

Pinball News founding and historyprimaryEditorial independence and principlesprimaryWilliams pinball division closure (1999)primaryPinball industry history and narrativesecondaryPinball media and journalismsecondary

Sentiment

positive(0.85)— Ayub expresses optimism about pinball's future despite industry skepticism, pride in publication's mission and independence, and gratitude toward contributing writers. Tone is professional and principled rather than promotional.

Transcript

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Hi there and welcome. | | | | --- | --- | | Martin Ayub Martin Ayub | My name is Martin Ayub and I am the Editor of Pinball News which means I get to write some of the articles, collaborate with our team of contributors to publish their articles, and keep the website up and running with all the latest reports, diary events and other housekeeping. I started Pinball News back at the end of 1999. It developed out of my own personal website which had largely consisted of reports from pinball and trade shows. The catalyst for change was the closure of Williams’ pinball division in November 1999. When that announcement came, everyone was saying pinball was dead, finished, buried. | I disagreed. I knew there was a vibrant community of pinball enthusiasts, home game buyers and avid collectors who hadn’t suddenly vanished and still had a huge appetite for the game. What was needed was someone to speak out for them. To show the world that new games were still being made by Stern Pinball, that pinball machines were still being actively traded, that pinball shows were still being held and that all the pinballs out on site were still there to be played, still making money for operators and site owners. The problem then was the need for a reliable, independent, well-written source of information about what was really happening in the pinball world, and that’s why Pinball News was created. The main areas covered then, as now, were; industry news, new game reviews, reports from pinball shows and information about where to play. In short, News, Games, Shows and Sites. You’ll find them all in the menu at the top of this page. As the website grew, it stared covering a few more areas where comprehensive, reliable information was simply not available. So the Diary page now lists as many pinball events around the world as we can find, while The Directory does the same for pinball machine and parts suppliers as well as game repairers. Besides publishing these reports and features, there were a few founding principles for Pinball News. First of all, I didn’t want to undermine the good work being done by other pinball resources, so that meant no classified ads and no discussion forums. There are plenty of others places doing those, and I would rather support them than compete with them. Secondly, there would be no commercial aspect to Pinball News. That meant no sponsorship, no advertisements, no subscriptions and no donations. The only way to guarantee independence and the ability to provide objective reviews is for us to have no financial involvement with any companies in the business. Sometime that means turning down deals and rejecting special treatment from certain firms, but better that than compromise our independence. Finally, you may have noticed how the ‘I’ from the first few paragraphs has turned into a ‘we’. That’s because Pinball News is not my site. It is the collaborative work of all the dozens of writers who have contributed or continue to write for us. Sure, I edit the site and write some of it, but the writing stays fresh thanks to the variety of voices and opinions found in our articles. So, a huge thanks to our team of writers who make Pinball News what it is and who embody the spirit of free, independent and intelligent pinball journalism. If you like that concept too, why not join us?