Pinball Magazine - Steve Ritchie special

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Special interview:

Steve Ritchie

Photo special + interview:

Festi’Flip by Santiago Ciuffo

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New in the PINBALL MAGAZINE web shop: Posters by Santiago Ciuffo € 6,50* each

Playfield detail of CENTAUR, Bally (1981). Design: Jim Patla, Art: Paul Faris.

Photo by Santiago Ciuffo, taken from his book PINBALL, published by Pinball Magazine, www.pinball-magazine.com

Backglass detail of PIN-BOT, Williams (1986). Design: Barry Oursler, Python Anghelo, Artwork: Python Anghelo.

Photo by Santiago Ciuffo, taken from his book PINBALL, published by Pinball Magazine, www.pinball-magazine.com

Poster size: 70 x 50 cm (27.6 x 19.7 inch)

GORGAR, Williams (1979). Design: Barry Oursler, Art: Constantino Mitchell, Jeanine Mitchell.

Playfield detail of TIME LINE, D. Gottlieb (1980). Design: Allen Edwall, Art: Jerry Simkus.

Photo by Santiago Ciuffo, taken from his book PINBALL, published by Pinball Magazine, www.pinball-magazine.com

Photo by Santiago Ciuffo, taken from his book PINBALL, published by Pinball Magazine, www.pinball-magazine.com

3 for € 15,00*

Playfield detail of NINE BALL, Stern Electronics (1980). Design: Steve Kirk.

Photo by Santiago Ciuffo, taken from his book PINBALL, published by Pinball Magazine, www.pinball-magazine.com

Playfield detail of XENON, Bally (1979). Design: Greg Kmiec, Art: Paul Faris.

Photo by Santiago Ciuffo, taken from his book PINBALL, published by Pinball Magazine, www.pinball-magazine.com

Also available as posters:

www.pinball-magazine.com/shop/

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Editorial Dear fellow pinball enthusiast, Thanks you for downloading this special ‘in-between Issue’ of Pinball Magazine. As you may know we’ve been working on Issue 3 for quite some time now, and the cover story will be about pinball artist and designer Python Anghelo.

At the Pinball Magazine seminar at Pinball Expo I showed how the current cover story for Issue 3 is running to over 150 pages, which need to be grouped into chapters and edited down. That’s going to take a lot of work.

In the meantime I’ve started doing interviews with people who worked with Python for the ‘Others about Python’ sections. As many of these people have more to talk about than just working with Python I thought that it might be an idea to use the additional content for a Special Issue such as this one.

What many may not yet have noticed is that the Pinball Magazine web shop is now also offering posters. Most of these posters are prints of photos that were published in Santiago Ciuffo’s PINBALL book. The covers of Pinball Magazine No. 1 and 2 are also available as posters. See the page on the left to see what these posters look like.

So if you’re looking for some nice art to decorate a (game)room, you may be interested in these.

You can think of this special Issue as a prelude to Issue 3, but the content published in this Special Issue will not be in Issue 3.

This Special Issue is being published on Thanksgiving Day 2014, which is just in time to remind you that the next batch of orders from the Pinball Magazine web shop is scheduled for shipping on December 4th. That way all orders should arrive prior to the holidays, which makes the PINBALL book and/or the posters by Santiago Ciuffo perfect gifts for the holiday season.

At the NW Pinball & Arcade Show I interviewed Steve Ritchie and the majority of that interview is published in this special Issue. I met Steve several times after that as well, which allowed me to ask some additional questions. I do have to thank Steve as he put a lot of time and effort in editing his own interview. Thanks Steve!

In the meantime we’ll continue to work on Pinball Magazine No. 3. The good news is that some new people have come on board and they are helping out with a lot of the transcripts. This means Issue 3 will be ready soon - and that there may be another Special Edition coming up as well.

Earlier this year Pinball Magazine published the hardcover coffee table photo book PINBALL by Argentinean photographer Santiago Ciuffo. Recently Santiago visited some pinball shows in Europe.

He took some great photos, some of which you will find some in this Special Issue as well. I contacted Santiago to find out what he thought of these shows, so there’s a small interview there as well.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Jonathan Joosten Pinball Magazine

WIN WIN WIN WIN WIN WIN WIN WIN WIN WIN AUTOGRAPHED STAR TREK PROMO PLASTICS At the Dutch Pinball Expo Steve Ritchie was kind enough to autograph a batch of Star Trek stickers and promotional plastics that were sent to us earlier this year.

We will be raffling these off to those who send an email to editor@pinball-magazine.com with the answer to the following question: How many Star Trek themed pinball machines have been designed by Steve Ritchie?

PINBALL Santiago Ciuffo • 208-pages • Hardcover coffee table photo book • Free 80-page supplement magazine included • Text in English, French and German • Additional language supplements available in Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Hungarian, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish and Swedish

Some of the feedback: “This is flat out the best pinball photography I’ve ever seen published. Absolutely amazing sir!” - Charlie Emery (Spooky Pinball) “The book is really wonderful! Great pictures which remind me so much of James Hamilton’s work. It is truly a very impressive book with wonderful photos.” - Roger C. Sharpe “I think the book looks great! The picture quality is perfect.

There is a nice selection of vintage games. Any pinball fan should own a copy.” - Barry Oursler “Loving the artwork! Santiago Ciuffo took some amazing pics! Great job!!! This book is a nice compliment to anyone who collects hardcover pinball books, and is a MUST for any fan of pinball art.” - Eric J.

Available at various pinball parts shops and pinball-magazine.com Visit www.pinball-magazine.com for all info, reviews and feedback galery

Steve Ritchie posing next to Black Knight, one of his best selling games

Interview with Steve Ritchie Interview: Jonathan Joosten, Copy editor: Paul Rubens

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inball designer Steve Ritchie has worked on incredible list of successful pinball machines during his career. He started out at Atari in the late ‘70s, where he designed his first game Airborne Avenger and worked on Superman as well.

He was then hired by Williams where he designed very successful games such as Flash, Firepower, Black Knight, High Speed, F14-Tomcat, Terminator 2, The Getaway and Star Trek The Next Generation, to name just a few. In the early ‘00s he was hired by Stern Pinball, for which he designed games like Terminator 3, Elvis, World Poker Tour, Spider-Man and 24.

After being let go during the financial crisis he was rehired a few years later and came back with a vengeance. His latest two games are AC/DC and Star Trek, of which AC/DC has become Stern’s best selling game since the reorganization of Stern Pinball.

The game will continue to be produced until the end of 2014, when the license expires.

Please note that this interview does not focus on Steve’s career in pinball design, as we’d prefer to do that as a Pinball Magazine cover story at some point in the future. Instead the interview focuses on Steve’s latest games, Italian bottoms and a whole lot more. Some elements of the interview have been left out and will be published in Pinball Magazine No. 3.

PM: Steve, you’ve been on a golden run lately: AC/ DC, Star Trek.

SR: We’ve had a nice run with our recent games. We’re doing really well at Stern. With AC/DC it was the first time I had true freedom at Stern to make what I wanted, and how I wanted to make it.

We have had very strong teams. I like working with Lyman Sheats and Lonnie Ropp. I like working with a lot of people, and AC/DC came together nicely around the music. We loved working on it. Lyman did a great job with the rules, and better players love his risk/reward aspects.

Sometimes I would think, “I wonder if the whole world loves AC/DC music.” Well, the whole world definitely loves AC/ DC music. It’s amazing. Their music cuts across so many demographics. I’m not sure we’ll ever find another music license that good again.

On Star Trek I had a lot of freedom to do what I wanted to do and what I think we need to do to make pinball fun, sell, and keep the company in business. That is always my goal.

PM: OK, so when do we get to see it?

SR: Not for a long time. That’s all I can say. Release dates are: who knows, it all depends. There’s a lot of things going on. We’re building Medieval Madness for Planetary Pinball, which I think is great. This is a deal that brought a lot of pinball entities together and everybody is going to make money, which is a good thing.

Players will get what they want: Medieval Madness. We’ll see how it works out. I think everybody involved would love to see it be successful, because then we can do it again. Stern has a great production facility; the best there is. It’s a good opportunity to make pinball stronger.

If the company doesn’t make money, many people’s jobs are at stake. I always think about making a game that is FUN first, but selling them is the second most important. I don’t make compromises on many levels, but we have to make a FUN game that sells well and that we make money on. If we don’t, pinball could die. Most all of us at Stern believe this.

We have to work hard to make our games as good as we can make them.

PM: You worked at Stern a few years ago, when you did Spider-Man and other games.

SR: Spider-Man was tough. It’s always a battle to get things in a game. Sometimes management sees nothing but costs.

“How much does it cost?” They don’t see what the game is going to be when it’s finished, because they can’t.

PM: In 2009 you got laid off, but once a new investment group invested in Stern you got rehired. Did things change?

SR: Yes, they changed radically. The new management partners brought a lot to Stern. They listen. That’s an important thing; we have to listen to each other.

One of the new partners and I came up with the LE model.

Originally, there was only the Pro and the Limited Edition, like Spider-Man Black, some special versions of our games.

Dave let me create a third echelon. I was able to get a little crazy with the game and give it a standout look, a unique feel, and better sound quality.

PM: So what are you working on now?

SR: Another pinball machine. I can’t talk about it, but I’m very excited. Most everyone else at Stern is too, I think. It’s a great title and it will be recognized instantly as a nice medium for pinball. It works with pinball very nicely.

PM: Sounds great. When is it supposed to be finished?

SR: It will be finished on the 35th day of the Festival of Koona-Gonda! (laughing)

One of the first Medieval Madness games that was assembled in the Stern factory

PM: Does the production of Medieval Madness at the Stern factory give you more time for your next game design?

SR: No, it doesn’t give me more time. I have a schedule, but they’re not pushing me like crazy now. I have some time to make the game, and to get it into the programmer’s office fairly early this time, which is a good thing.

PM: We’re here talking at a pinball show. You’re doing a few of these a year. Do you like going to these shows or would you rather go fishing or do something else?

SR: Ha ha. I tell you what. I lose a few weekends, but what I gain is tremendous. I love to speak to fans and to greet them.

They have honored me with the purchase of my games, and only a crazy man would not love them for it. There’s only a handful of other guys working in the business of creating pinball machines that are listening for and hearing what the people want. I’m hearing their conversations. There’s a lot to learn here at this show and many others.

I played Miss Adventure, here. It’s cool, it immersed me in the culture of what some people think is important or cool, or different. I learn more about what people want in my

games and what makes them happy. I use what I know and what I learn.

I stay current and informed about entertainment and technology, and I am proud of that.

That’s an important thing. I’m keeping up with technology and trends in entertainment. I’m keeping up with everything also because I have to. I love technology. I always want to see what’s coming next. As soon as I see a new thing, a new development, a new piece of engineered product, I immediately think, “Can I put that in a pinball machine and how much would that cost?” It’s important to me. I also love to originate new things for pinball machines.

Pinball shows are great. I get a chance to speak in seminars, talk to people, and answer questions. I enjoy that very much. I enjoy speaking because I want people to know how we do what we do, and what’s involved.

It’s a very hard thing to manufacture pinball machines en masse.

Very hard.

design?

SR: New talent is welcome, but I haven’t seen anybody banging on the Stern doors, dying to come and work as a designer with a game drawing tucked under their arm.

It’s like this. It takes a lot of learning to make pinball machines. Many new engineers came to Williams not knowing the history of what works and what doesn’t. A new engineer at Williams started looking at the jet bumper design and said, “I see how we can save $ 50,000 a year if we use a thinner rod on the ring shafts.”

PM: But then they will break.

SR: Yes! Now, anyone can buy good jet bumper parts and most all standard parts, but it’s the development of special, new devices that is challenging to create and that work well. Mentors and experience are the only way to learn how to make pinball for a manufacturing environment.

We learned how to make them a long time ago. This information has been known for many years and passed down to us from PM: As you just menthe elders like Steve Kordek, tioned, you get a chance Norm Clark, the Gottliebs, the at shows to play games Sterns, Frank Murphy, Jack by new talent, or people Sakai, Johnny Jung and many who built games in their other lesser known names ungarages. Do you think we Miss Adventure, a prototype game by Brian Cox was displayed at the NW Pinball & Arcade Show and Pinball Expo familiar to the pinball public. need new talent in pinball

PINBALL - Santiago Ciuffo Pinball News: “PINBALL is an impressive collection of photographs taken by Santiago in 2013. Like any good coffee table book, you can dive in at almost any point and find an interesting and thought-provoking picture to ponder and explore further, discovering details which may never have caught your eye before.

It’s also the kind of book someone with no prior interest in pinball can happily leaf through, enjoying the iconic pinball compositions without feeling uninformed or intimidated.”

The Pro, Premium and Limited Edition model of Stern’s Star Trek, designed by Steve Ritchie will see another software update

There aren’t many people left with quality pinball knowledge. There is no book to study. The best way to learn is to come to the factory and start working. Maybe not as a designer in the beginning, but if someone has a burning desire to make pinball machines, the desire will come through sooner or later.

At one time in the history of Williams, someone said “We should make our pinball cabinets out of sheet metal. We can stamp them out, like a refrigerator.” So they did. They made about 100 prototypes, built them up and got them running.

They went out in the field. It was very difficult to insulate all the electrics so there would be no electricity passed to the player, and also expensive.

An operator would move this game in a steel cabinet and bump it into something. Now, there’s a big dent in the side, what do you do? How do you deal with that? You can’t paint it over and put on new artwork. You have to take it to a body shop and have somebody fix it, like a car. A lot of mistakes were made in the past, and it is a good thing to know all about them. We don’t want to repeat our mistakes.

SR: Yes. We’ve tried a lot of different things, but if you have a new idea… If pinball massively appealed to young people, pinball’s popularity would be huge. What’s it going to take to get young people interested, and having a good time playing pinball? I definitely see an increase, but to reach the popularity levels of the 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s, I see a mountain to climb. I can’t imagine selling 15,000 to 25,000 units of one design today. I believe it might be possible in the future.

PM: Any ideas on how to make operators interested in pinball again?

SR: Sure. We’re going to be trying some new stuff. If you want operators to be happier with their purchase, it means the game would have to be making more money. Which means you need more players. That’s what we have to develop: more players. Also, there’s a lot more entertainment choices today. We have to compete with so many options now; cell phones, computers, so many video games on so many incredible platforms, and some great TV and movies.

There’s just a huge amount of options in what we do with our spare time.

PM: Personally I would not try to save costs. I would try to bring more people to the game.

SR: You do not work for a pinball company, Jonathan. New manufacturers will quickly learn how important costs are, but first and foremost success is always determined by how much FUN you have playing a pinball machine. We are always trying to bring new players to the game, but it’s not an easy thing to do. We are seeing a resurgence of interest in pinball, and I think our (Stern) games drove that recent increase.

We experiment to try and bring more players into the pinball fold. I experimented on Star Trek, trying to get new players by making the rules very simple. When the green light is on, shoot the green light here, here and here. That was a good move. We attracted a lot of casual players and the earnings of Star Trek are very strong. For players who like deep games, the first rule set of Stern Star Trek didn’t make them as happy as we would have liked. High-end, very good players want other options, and our latest revision of the software pleases them more while not altering the experience the casual player enjoy.

PM: Well, that comes down to creativity and playfield design.

That’s why we’re doing another update on Star Trek software. We’re adding new rules, giving the high end player a

chance to move ahead and if they take a risk, they get a big reward. That’s what they want. We didn’t do that enough in Star Trek. It’s tough to make everyone happy. Show me someone that can make it through all eighteen missions.

There aren’t many people who have done it.

PM: There are very few players that will be able to do that. Yet the group of people that need to understand the objectives in the game when they walk up to it, that’s everybody. With Star Trek you managed to make a game that is easy to understand for a lot of people.

SR: Yes, but you have to have everything. There wasn’t enough depth in it, but we’re fixing that. I’m hoping that next time we can have both from the very beginning. It’s a mountain of code to wade through. Also, I can play the game a hundred times a day and still not see everything that can go wrong or be disappointing. I look at the whole game the best I can. Until you play it a hundred times a day, for days and days and days, it’s only then you discover, “I don’t like that little high voice at the end of each mission.”

We have talked about many suggestions and ideas on how we can add more risk versus reward, stacking, and satisfying scoring.

PM: You say the solution to getting operators interested in pinball again is more players, but interesting new people in pinball is difficult. Another solution could be shorter ball times and games, while still having a fun and challenging game.

SR: I believe this would drive casual players away. They will get little for their money, and that can be disappointing.

PM: That way existing pinball players will spend more on a game in a shorter period of time. Games from the ‘60s and ‘70s earned very well because the player would think “I can do this”, but it turned out to be harder than it looked. That was fun and operators earned.

SR: The theory is good, but it doesn’t work in many locations. When we had 40 second ball times in the 70’s, it was because many people would wait in line with their quarters on the glass, but now, there are no lines of people waiting to play at most locations.

SR: Yes, we are thinking about that. Being an apprentice designer is the best way to learn about the business of pinball design and manufacturing. This is the way that I became a designer, in fact just about all the designers I ever met have been schooled by their mentors. Steve Kordek, Norm Clark, and all the rest of the designers had other positions in game companies before becoming designers.

It also takes a lot of energy to be a designer. In the old days I built a game that screams “clueless.” I did not know what I was doing. Airborne Avenger is a clueless game made by a rookie who knew nothing about pinball. I was driven to be a game designer. I wished I could have worked with standard components instead of what Atari was doing with rotary solenoids and the displays in the lower arch. Some people call it the apron. We did a lot of dumb things. It started with a a bunch of guys sitting in a room and they said “Hey, why don’t we do this?” “We’ll be different.” Different and kind of broken! (laughing) PM: When you started designing pinball machines you had a drafting table. Now you’re designing games on the computer. Does that make it easier?

SR: Oh yes, it is much easier. Many times a day I can see what my whole game looks like plotted out with major changes. I can try many more experiments in a day than I could in a week with a drafting table. CAD is wonderful.

PM: You’ve expressed in previous interviews that you’re a big fan of the Italian bottom.

SR: Yeah, well I really like the Italian bottom. I have my own Italian bottom. It’s actually an American/Italian that I created and started using on Flash. It was different. It’s something that I don’t want to change. I am always willing to change anything else on the playfield, but my flipper positions and everything else that happens in the area of flippers; slingshots and feeds is something I want players to feel comfortable with when they step up to play my games. I hope they say to themselves, “I know this bottom and I know what can be done with the flippers.”

PM: So why is it called an Italian bottom?

SR: The Italians started making the bottom with wireforms.

PM: Still, could shorter ball times be an option to get operators interested again? Then, once other people see people playing the game and having fun, they may be tempted to try it as well.

SR: Maybe.

PM: You mentioned that nobody applied for the position of designer. Last year I talked to George Gomez and he mentioned he’s thinking of starting to work with apprentices.

The Italian bottom on Flash

PM: Getting back to the plastic ball guides: do they make the game last longer?

SR: I think they do. And the playfield definitely stays cleaner.

Steve Ritchie at the NW Pinball & Arcade Show posing with Santiago Ciuffo’s PINBALL book

The original Italian bottom had wires that went back to the flippers and two outlanes. I’m not saying I invented it, but I changed it and added smoothness. My style included smooth solid pieces of metal and eventually we molded them out of a very hard plastic. But it’s still pretty much the way I drew it on Flash. Originally the ball would ride along the edge of the metal, but it’s very expensive to do it that way. I’m not upset by the play of the plastic parts bringing the ball back to the flipper. Are you?

PM: Metal guides would damage the ball, which would then damage the playfield.

SR: Metal parts and ramps do make the playfield dirtier.

That’s what you can see. All the pieces of metal that get chipped off and that black powder that’s all over the playfield. Whenever you do metal ramps it’s there too, but I still like them. I’m not going to say I’ll never do metal ramps again, but I really like plastic ramps because, well it’s all about a person with a very special talent at Stern. His name is John Rotharmel and he’s probably the best mechanical engineer I have ever worked with. He creates beautiful ramps. Engineering smooth ramps is an art, no question.

It’s so much easier to do that in plastic than metal. You can’t mold metal ramps at a low price. He affects my designs because I can take advantage of his skills and make incredible ramps that are smooth as glass, that get the ball under control.

PM: Recently you gave a presentation at the Dutch Pinball Expo in The Netherlands. How was that for you?

The DPO and show was great!

The people of Holland are very friendly and treated me exceptionally well. I love Amsterdam, and Drunen was a beautiful town. There are many enthusiastic fans of pinball in Holland, and I had a lot of fun meeting and greeting them.

Rens, Gerard, Ad, and many others did a great job running the show and the venue was perfect. It had a theater which was awesome, and I enjoyed both being in the audience and on the stage. As a bonus, the weather was perfect, and I am sure it will be talked about for many years to come.

I was very impressed with Dutch Pinball and their TBL game. It was nice looking, fun to play and the best entrepreneur effort I have ever seen. I wish them the best in getting the game into production.

PM: Was this show any different for you than the shows in the USA? SR: Not really. It seemed just as professional, well run, and as fun as many shows I have attended. The only difference for me was that I took part in the presentations of trophies to the tournament winners, which was fine with me. Glad to help.

PM: Any suggestions for the show, or for shows in general?

SR: Just one suggestion. It always helps to have badges with attendees’ name on them to remember names and put a name on a face. It makes it easier and less awkward when someone (like me!) forgets or doesn’t hear someone’s name.

WIN promotional Stern Star Trek items, autographed by Steve ritchie.

See page 3 for all details.

Steve Ritchie on stage during his seminar at the Dutch Pinball Open 2014 (Photo credit: Santiago Ciuffo)

Photo credit: Santiago Ciuffo

Festi’Flip by Santiago Ciuffo Interview: Jonathan Joosten, Copy editor: Paul Rubens

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antiago Ciuffo is a very talented photographer from Argentina, and his book PINBALL was published by Pinball Magazine earlier this year. The book contains beautiful photos of pinball machines in Argentina, and the Argentinian pinball scene.

and he shares many of the games in his treasured collection.

These meetings are small, with 50 to 60 people. Most of them are pinball fans who are actively involved on the Argentinean pinball pages on Facebook. Also, in the province of Cordoba, 900 km from Buenos Aires, there is another group organizing small tournaments.

Recently Ciuffo came to Europe and attended two pinball events: Festi’Flip in France, the largest pinball show in Europe with over 300 games and 3,300 visitors; and the Dutch Pinball Open (DPO) in The Netherlands.

The remaining meetings are in households with private collections. You can attend if you know the owner of the house and are invited. Pinball in Argentina is not as popular as it is in Europe or USA.

Besides autographing his book at the Pinball Magazine stand, Ciuffo took more pictures at both shows as well. Here are a selection of his photos from Festi’Flip. Photos from the Dutch Pinball Open will be featured in a future Pinball Magazine special.

PM: Santiago, what are Argentinian pinball events like, and how do they compare to European ones?

SC: In Argentina I attended events organized by the Argentine Pinball Club. In fact some of the photos in the PINBALL book were taken at some of these events.

These events are held in Buenos Aires, at a place belonging to Fernando Bigi, a big pinball machine collector. He has over 200 games in his collection, including some very rare and highly sought after games such as Black Hole. As far as we know there are only three Black Hole pinball machines in Argentina. At Festi’Flip there were eight Black Holes in a row and some more in the corridors.

Fernando has donated several machines for Club events

PM: You took photos at both events. Was that different to taking photos in Argentina for your book?

SC: I think the biggest difference is that for the PINBALL book it took me a year to find the machines in various places in my country. There are no events of the size of Festi’Flip or DPO. I do think the fact that I took the photos for the book in so many different places in Argentina makes the photos more interesting from a documentary point of view.

Festi’Flip and DPO were two very intense experiences from a photographic point of view. I am very happy I was able to take photos at these events and I shot some very interesting material. These photos are inspiring me to do some new photographic work.

PM: What did you think of Festi’Flip?

SC: Festi’Flip was a great experience for me - it was the first time in my life that I could see, play and photograph so many pinball machines. It was a bit like going back to

thusiast should attend over and over again. Besides having a good time playing pinball machines from every decade, you meet great people that like pinball too, you can get all kinds of spare parts for your pinball machines, and find out about new and upcoming releases.

PM: What did you think of the Dutch Pinball Open?

SC: I think that although the DPO is smaller than Festi’Flip it is still an important event. There are some machines there like Bally Fore, of which there are only about 80 machines around the world.

I also had the pleasure to meet pinball designer Steve Ritchie in person, and that was an amazing experience for me. I was also very pleased to meet people like Jack Guarnieri of Jersey Jack Pinball who still believes in pinball and created the marvelous The Wizard of Oz. I think this game, as well as The Big Lebowski, Metallica and Mustang, show the incredible devotion to pinball that the manufacturers of these games have. I was lucky enough to be able to play these amazing games at DPO and Festi’Flip.

Photo credit: Valeria Kampel

Santiago Ciuffo in front of the Palais des Spectacles, Saint Etienne - France

the ‘70s and I don’t think I have seen a place with so many machines since my childhood.

The Palais des Spectacles, where Festi’Flip was held, is an ideal location for this type of event, and the impeccable organization and maintenance work during the event was remarkable. The games were also very well maintained which resulted in their smooth operation the whole time.

I think Festi’Flip is the kind of event that every pinball en-

I am very grateful to the people of Festi’Flip and DPO for their kindness. And I would like to specially highlight the great effort made Jonathan Joosten to bring Pinball Magazine and the PINBALL book to major pinball events around the world.

It was a wonderful experience to come to both these pinball events and I’d like to thank them and the people who came to talk to me because they are interested in PINBALL. PINBALL – Santiago Ciuffo, a 208-page hardcover coffee table photo book, is available in the Pinball Magazine online store, at many pinball events and at the Pacific Pinball Museum.

More photos taken at Festi’Flip can be found on the Pinball Magazine Facebook page.

PINBALL - Santiago Ciuffo Pavlov Pinball: “If you appreciate pinball artwork then you’ll love this new book by Argentinian photographer Santiago Ciuffo. Highly recommended for any fan of pinball and fine photography.”

Credit Dot Pinball: “A project like this cannot be successful if done on the cheap. The book is museum quality, and the quality of the contents cannot be beat.”

More info, reviews and feedback on pinball-magazine.com

Photo credit: Santiago Ciuffo

Photo credit: Santiago Ciuffo

Photo credit: Santiago Ciuffo

Photo credit: Santiago Ciuffo

Photo credit: Santiago Ciuffo

Photo credit: Santiago Ciuffo

Photo credit: Santiago Ciuffo

Photo credit: Santiago Ciuffo

Photo credit: Santiago Ciuffo

Photo credit: Santiago Ciuffo

Photo credit: Santiago Ciuffo

Photo credit: Santiago Ciuffo

Photo credit: Santiago Ciuffo

The ideal present for any pinball enthusiast:

208-page hardcover coffee table photo book For all info, reviews and feedback see: www.pinball-magazine.com