Pinball

The most fun I had all weekend: Pinball Arcade

True story: Attracted by the sounds of Star Wars, my kids wandered over to where I was playing a game on my iPad. "What's that?" they asked. "Star Wars Pinball," I said. "What's pinball?" they replied.

I told them pinball was a game people used to play at the arcade, before video games came along. They said, "Whats an arcade?"

I said an arcade is where kids used to go after school when they got tired of listening to records. All together, now: "What's a record?"… Read more

Crave Ep. 111: Man vs. jetpack

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A German inventor has built a DIY jetpack, so we hop onboard. Also, we get a first look at "Star Wars" pinball for iOS and Android, and "Star Trek" fans win a major space battle when they vote to name a Pluto moon "Vulcan." All that and more on this week's episode of Crave. … Read more

Star Wars Pinball coming tomorrow to Android, iOS (video)

Ready to visit a pinball arcade far, far away?

Tomorrow, Zen Studios will release Star Wars Pinball for Android and iOS, giving you the chance to see how your pinball wizardry matches up with your Jedi wizardry. (The game is getting a simultaneous release for Mac, PlayStation, and Xbox.)

Zen will offer three Star Wars-themed tables as part of its existing Zen Pinball app, which is free and already offers such tables as X-Men, Captain America, and Thor. Each one will cost $1.99 via in-app purchase.

Depending on your level of fandom, "Star Wars" and "pinball" may be all you needed to hear. If that case, check out the just-released trailers for all three, then meet me below for some thoughts.… Read more

Stern's home pinball tables have hacking in their future

LAS VEGAS--In the last few years, Stern has been making geek friendly pinball machines based on popular franchises like Transformers, Iron Man and The Avengers. But priced at $5,000 to $8,000, they've been out of the reach of people to own at home.

The company's newer models buck that trend, and come in at a smaller size, weight, and price tag at around $2,500.

Two of those were out for play here at the Digital Experience event, a smaller showing by the company that is also debuting its latest creations in the Las Vegas Convention … Read more

Pinball machine made entirely of K'Nex construction toys

Some people play with construction toys. Some people build massive and elaborate functioning structures out of construction toys. University of Colorado engineering student Andrew Locke fits into the latter category.

Locke built a fully functional pinball machine out of K'Nex. K'Nex may not have quite the same fame as Legos, but it's definitely a versatile construction system. It's also a very detailed construction system. It took Locke 4 months to put the beast together.… Read more

The 404 1,115: Where the streets have no name (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Pitchfork's People's List polls readers for the best albums of the last 15 years.

- The new rise of a summer hit: Tweet It Maybe.

- How Murder by Death became the No. 3 most successful Kickstarter music campaign ever.

- The Internet has finally met its match: Avril Lavigne engaged to Nickelback frontman Chad Kroeger.

- Lights turning off at Nintendo Power?

- Custom BioShock pinball machine is Rapturous.… Read more

Custom BioShock pinball machine is Rapturous

There are plenty of geeky pinball machines in existence. You can conquer a pinball version of "Lord of the Rings," bash bumpers with Transformers, and roll your way through "Avatar."

What happens when the object of your obsession isn't available in pinball form? You make your own. Pinball hacker/maker rasmadrak is going all BioShock on a custom-made pinball machine.… Read more

Get pwned at the California Extreme arcade extravaganza

With hundreds of classic arcade games and hard to find pinball machines -- spanning decades of gaming mechanics, design, and artwork -- the California Extreme classic arcade games show will certainly be the place to pwn and be pwned this weekend. Classic arcade consoles including Donkey Kong, Pac-Man, Joust -- and even Pong -- will be on display, and all set on free play. The annual gathering of pinball wizards takes place Saturday and Sunday at the Hyatt Regency Santa Clara. You might get the high score for the weekend, or even win the tournament -- but the real treat … Read more

X-Men pinball delivers mutant mayhem

Stern Pinball has officially started churning out the X-Men pinball game it hinted at back in June.

The machine comes in three different flavors. The base model is the X-Men Pro ($5,699) and includes a backglass graphic with all the X-Men mutants crammed together in an explosion of awesome.

Then you have the two X-Men Limited Edition machines ($7,999) which include a few extra playfield options, such as a motorized "Ice Slide" ramp, pop-up Night Crawlers, color-changing LEDs, and a magnetic spinning disc that basically rules. The two versions of this machine include an edition with … Read more

Crave 78: Everything old is new again (podcast)

This week, old meets new as we drool over a new AC/DC pinball machine, turn our old CDs into works of art, and put your condom's location on the Web. Plus, a skateboard powered by your brain, a shopping cart that stalks and judges you, a DIY Chewbacca tissue box suitable for space travel misadventures, and Bonnie's robot gets a name.

Subscribe in iTunes SD Video | Subscribe in RSS SD Video … Read more