Northwest Pinball and Arcade Show
The Northwest Pinball and Arcade Show is an annual pinball and arcade game festival held in Tacoma, Washington, United States.
The Northwest Pinball and Arcade Show draws between 3,000 collectors and fans each June to the Seattle area. The festival began as a small annual event held by Washington pinball collectors, but in 2008 became a full-fledged regional convention featuring hundreds of pinball machines, arcade games, electro-mechanical games, speakers, vendors and tournaments. In 2013 the show expanded in size, prompting a move from the Seattle Center to the Greater Tacoma Convention and Trade Center.
2016
The 9th annual Northwest Pinball and Arcade Show will take place at the Greater Tacoma Convention and Trade Center June 3–5, 2016.2015
The 8th annual Northwest Pinball and Arcade Show will take place at the Greater Tacoma Convention and Trade Center June 5–7, 2015.2014
The 7th annual Northwest Pinball and Arcade Show took place at the Greater Tacoma Convention and Trade Center June 6–8, 2014.2013
The 6th annual Northwest Pinball and Arcade Show took place at the Greater Tacoma Convention and Trade Center June 7–9, 2013. The new venue was larger and accommodated more games, more vendors, more exhibits and more people. Pinball designer and artist Python Anghelo came to the show for the first time and hosted an engaging fireside chat, moderated by pinball historian and collector Gary Flower, as well as doing a seminar later on "The Future of Pinball." Angelo's game credits include arcade games Joust and Sinistar, as well as dozens of pinball machines including PIN•BOT, Taxi, Cyclone, Bad Cats, Fish Tales,, Police Force, High Speed and Comet. Kevin Kulek and Aaron Klumpp of Skit B Pinball brought out their new Predator pinball machine to talk about it, both it and their one of a kind Duck Hunt pinball machine were available to play throughout the weekend on the show floor. Gerry Stellenberg, owner of Multimorphic, spoke about the new P3 Pinball and P-ROC. Pinball artist Kevin O'Connor designed the 2013 show poster and spoke about his experience in the industry, O'Connor's game credits include Monster Bash, Kiss, Creature From The Black Lagoon and many more. Jersey Jack Pinball's Butch Peel did a seminar on the "Making The Wizard Of Oz Pinball" and brought a finished The Wizard of Oz for everyone to play during the show. Longtime Washington State game operator Bill Masterman spoke about operating games on location and arcade high score sensations Todd Rogers and Steve Wiebe, star of "The King Of Kong" movie, also spoke. There was a premiere for the movie "The Space Invaders: In Search of Lost Time" with a Q&A with director Jeff Von Ward and locals Aaron Davis and Barry Shilmover gave a talk on "Turning Your Pinball Design Ideas Into A Real Machine!" and their new pinball company Skillshot. Gary Stern, owner & president of Stern Pinball gave a seminar and drew the winning raffle ticket at the end in which someone took home a new X-Men Pro pinball game. For the first year NW Pinball and Arcade Show trophies were presented and the show awarded a number of scholarships to local college students going into game design related fields.2012
The 5th annual Northwest Pinball and Arcade Show drew 3,000 visitors to the Seattle Center June 8–10, 2012. The show featured "Jersey Jack" Guarnieri speaking about the making The Wizard Of Oz Pinball, as well as the first public peak at a prototype of the game. Gary Stern of Stern Pinball talked about his history in the pinball industry. UK pinball author Gary Flower talked about his history with pinball. Rich Lint from This Old Game did a talk about replacing the artwork on arcade and pinball machines. Pinball designer Steve Ritchie talked about his experience in pinball design. Pinball artist Doug Watson spoke about his experiences as a pinball artist. John Popadiuk spoke about his history with pinball design. Eugene Jarvis, video game and pinball designer and programmer gave a talk about his experience and history in the industry. Rick Bartlett, owner Planetary Pinball talked about new pinball parts. Lindsey Rupertus spoke on the basics of solid state pinball repair methodology. Twin Galaxies was on hand to judge world record high score attempts and presented their Trading Card Expo. There were also panel discussions on game collecting and repair seminars. The NW Pinball and Arcade Show Pinball Tournament drew top players from around the world and the Seattle Pinball Museum put on a series for more casual, fun and family oriented pinball tournaments throughout the weekend. One lucky winner per day won a pinball or arcade game, prizes this year included a Wizard of Oz, Centipede, Galaga and Terminator 2 pinball machine. There is a great recap of the 2012 show with photos on Pinball News.2011
The 4th annual Northwest Pinball and Arcade Show took place at the Seattle Center June 3–5, 2011. Guest speakers included: pinball artwork designer John Youssi, Funhouse, Twilight Zone, Whirlwind, Steve Wiebe from the movie , Walter Day, and pinball designer John Popadiuk, Theatre of Magic, Tales Of The Arabian Nights,, and arcade and pinball sound designer David Thiel. The show also featured world record attempts and the IFPA sanctioned "Northwest Pinball Championships" tournament, drawing top pinball competitors from around the world.Three world record high scores were set at the 2011 show:
Video arcade games -
Donkey Kong 3 - 3,538,000 by George Riley
Mr. Do!'s Castle - 240,820 by Patrick Scott Patterson
Space Duel - 109,570 by Ken House and Elijah Hayter
2010
The 3rd annual Northwest Pinball and Arcade Show took place at the Seattle Center June 11–13, 2010 and featured 260 pinball and arcade games. Guest speakers included Steve Wiebe from the movie , pinball and arcadedesigner George Gomez, arcade and pinball sound designer David Thiel, and pinball designer John Trudeau. Show featured IFPA sanctioned "Northwest Pinball Championships," drawing top pinball competitors from around the world.
Nine world record high scores were set at the 2010 show:
Video arcade games -
Lunar Lander - 1,705 by Dan Whitmarsh
Mario Bros. - 418,870 by John Bartkiw & Ross Benziger
Metal Slug X - 1,286,660 by Jordan Vick
Popeye - 1,238,110 by Perry Rodgers
Punch-Out!! - 18,999,970 by Sean Sandnes
Pinball games -
24 - 94,596,880 by Zach Sharpe
Centigrade 37 - 371,850 by Keith Elwin
Firepower - 1,154,600 by Keith Elwin
Four Million BC - 37,900 by Neil Shatz
2009
The 2nd annual show at the Seattle Center was held June 12–14, 2009. The show was expanded with the addition of a second room filled with classic arcade video games, and the combined total of arcade and pinball machines reached 250. Guest speakers included game designer Dennis Nordman, game artist and sound creator Greg Freres, music and sound designer Brian Schmidt, star of the documentary movie High Score, Bill Carlton, and Clay Harrell from This Old Pinball. Steve Wiebe returned, but instead of speaking, he made his 6th public attempt to reclaim the world high score on Donkey Kong. David Nelson from Twin Galaxies was on hand to referee Wiebe's high score attempt and watch many other world record high score attempts, as was Mark Alpiger from ClassicArcadeGaming.com. Walter Day hosted a press conference to present the International Video Game Hall of Fame's inaugural ceremony with 12 world record high score holders.Seventeen world record high scores were set at the 2009 show:
Video arcade games -
Kicker - 1,958,000 by Chris Mansfield
Vs. Excitebike - 3,205,205 by Jesse Corrington
Pinball games -
2001 - 12,617 by Shane Pace
4 Square - 6,591 by Logan Johnson
Bank-A-Ball - 1,673 by Brian Cady
Big Casino - 1,993 by Warren Eng
Domino - 7,910 by Rick Espe
Flip-A-Card - 8,933 by Warren Eng
Flying Carpet - 8,437 by Steve Fein
Grand Prix - 1,060,300 by Eden Stamm
Jacks Open - 209,180 by Zach Sharpe
Joust - 79,432 by Tim Hansen
King Kool - 102,610 by Trevor McDonald
King Pin - 81,040 by Steve Fein
Shrek - 53,204,390 by Neil Shatz
Sky-Line - 1,295 by Shirley Cady
Theatre of Magic - 7,323,064,830 by Neil Shatz