Final Fight 2 for the Super Nintendo (800 Wii points) is the only recognizable title in the Nintendo download this week, pitting Haggar, Maki, and Carlos against the re-emerged Mad Gear Gang, traveling the globe in a quest to wipe them off the face of the Earth once and for all, rescuing Guy's master in the process. It's one of the best moving left to right while hitting people simulators of all time.

WiiWare scores a game called Gravitronix from Medaverse Studios (500 Wii points), a multiplayer game in which players do battle in the Gravitronix arena, which looks something like the screenshot above. I'm not sure what's going on up there, but it certainly looks...blue? The game features a campaign mode for 1-2 players, or multiplayer battles for up to 8 players on a single Wii. You can visit the game's official website to try and figure out what's going on up there.

Finally, DSiWare gets a dose of the silver ball in Pinball Pulse: The Ancients Beckon (500 DSi points), a pinball game based on ancient Greek myths. Collect the favors of the gods, battle the Medusa, and visit the Oracle for help. I like pinball. I like Greek mythology. I'll most likely give this a go.

Anything tickle your fancy? You might want to see a doctor about that. As always, the official descriptions follow.

Nintendo DSiWare

Pinball Pulse: The Ancients Beckon™
Publisher: Nintendo
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) – Comic Mischief
Price: 500 Nintendo DSi Points™
Description: Pinball takes on mythological proportions in this Nintendo DSiWare exclusive. Choose from two modes of play (Regular Game or Daily Game) and begin your journey to becoming a pinball champion. Conquer mythic quests, collect gifts from the 12 Olympians, and push your skills to the limit by facing Medusa, the Sirens and more. Your portable pinball table will give you a quick adrenaline rush as you watch the steel ball fly through ramps and carom off bumpers all over the playing field. Rack up combo points, open specific game modes and enlist the Oracle for some help. Will you accept Zeus's challenge?

Virtual Console

Final Fight™ 2
Original platform: Super NES™
Publisher: Capcom USA
Players: 1-2
ESRB Rating: E10+ (Everyone 10 and Older) – Violence
Price: 800 Wii Points™
Description: It's been several years since peace settled in Metro City. With Cody and Jessica on vacation and Guy resuming his training out of town, everything seems to be in order. But Haggar is feeling uneasy after learning that Mad Gear was not completely destroyed. Once again, the Mad Gear Gang has emerged, and this time they want revenge. They've kidnapped Guy's master, Genryusai, and Genryusai's daughter, Rena. Now Haggar must travel the globe in search of Genryusai and Rena. Hopefully, with the help of Maki and Carlos, the reign of the Mad Gear Gang will be destroyed.

WiiWare

Gravitronix
Publisher: Medaverse Studios
Players: 1-8
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 500 Wii Points
Description: It's time to claim your rightful place as the champion of the Gravitronix arena, but get ready to deal with up to seven other players who are all shooting for the same title. Vanquish your opponents with four different projectiles and the powerful beams of your gravity platform. Intercept attacks and take careful aim at exposed vulnerabilities. Deflect incoming projectiles or capture and charge them with energy for devastating explosive attacks. Team up with a friend and battle through campaign mode, or recruit up to eight players on a single Wii™ system in versus mode for an all-out battle. Customize your matches with a variety of different options, such as flooding the arena with projectiles or making the game insanely fast. No matter how you like to play, grab your friends and have a blast.

Zen Studios' Sky City-themed Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 pinball table will attempt to capture the frenetic action of Tecmo's game, with five multiball game modes, tons of missions, weapon combos, electrical ramps, and something called "ball slicing effects" which actually doesn't sound all that appealing. I'm not all that sure I can bring myself to spend my hard-earned dollars with anything that carries the phrase "ball slicing" in its description.

The table is tentatively scheduled for an October release, so stay tuned to PSN and the ZEN Pinball website to know when you'll be able to get your ball slicing on.

Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 ZEN Pinball Table [PlayStation Blog]

The choice seems to be a gut-instinct one, made "several minutes" after deciding four years ago he wanted to build such a table. "I guess I could have gone with a more obvious geek choice like Bruce Campbell but to be honest, Paxton's more interesting and has made movies people have actually seen."

*ducks* Hey, he said it, not me.

Moving along, he's set to designing the table's artwork before its play, it seems. The backglass has already been put together, and contains these references:

• Can of Hamm's - he drinks it in several movies.
• Alien holding a Fish Head - 3000 years ago Paxton directed a Barnes & Barnes video called, well, Fish Heads, about, well, Fish Heads.
• Blob of crap from Weird Science.
• Axe from Fraility.
• Cow / truck from Twister.
• Skyline of Paxton's hometown in the background.
• Crew of Apollo 13.
• Plane from Slipsteam.
• Mountain / photo from Vertical Limit.
• ROV from Titanic.
• Some wives from Big Love.

He's sketching out four modes of play based off of Paxton classics - True Lies will require lots of combos and multiplers "to, I guess, get into Jamie Lee Curtis' pants." Others include Twister, Titanic and, naturally, Aliens.

Hold Flipper for Status Update [BenHeck.com]

Keith Elwin, number one pinball player in the world, walked away from the modern and solid state tournaments with a couple of trophies and $1,290 in prizes. Local player Neil Inn scored the top spot in the electromechanical tournament (conducted with games from the 60s and 70s), winning $550. Finally, 14-year-old Los Angeles teenager Alec Castillo ranked highest in the Guitar Hero Arcade tournament, winning the Wii and Guitar Hero World Tour package plus four other Guitar Hero games.

"Overall, the tournaments at California Extreme gave away over $7,500 in cash and prizes, even more than we had hoped," says tournament organizer Bowen Kerins. "It was our largest show ever, both in terms of attendance and number of games on the floor, and we can't wait for the next one."

Weirdly enough, I hear that Castillo appears for a few seconds in the Video Games episode of Penn & Teller: Bullshit! that aired earlier this month.

It was in 1948 when Steve Kordek revolutionized pinball. Asked to design a new pinball at the last minute for the upcoming pinball trade show, Kordek decided to add flippers to his design. Competitors were using six, he decided to reduce the number to two, and amp up the power.

It was a decision based on minimalism, both in design and costs. Its impact changed the face of pinball permanently. He went on to introduce both drop targets and multiballs to pinballing.

Kordek, an outsider to the industry when he walked into his first job to literally seek shelter from the rain, says that the secret to designing a good game is to attract the player. Not the other way round.

In other words anticipate, instead of create, your audience.

It's a surprisingly simple notion that Nintendo has been tapping into recently with the advent of the Wii and it's TV-remote like controller as well as games like Wii Fit and perhaps the recently announced Vitality sensor.

Chicago's 98-year-old pinball wizard has the magic touch for game design [Chicago Tribune, thanks Kevin]

Pin*Bot originates from the 1986 Williams pinball table of the same name. As you attempt to advance your silver ball from Pluto to the Sun, Pin-Bot is always watching you, even before you fire a couple of pinballs into his empty eye sockets, causing him to intone "Now I see you." He is an iconic figure in pinball history, spawning two sequels - The Machine: Bride of Pin*Bot and Jack*Bot - along with a video game version for the Nintendo Entertainment System.

Pin*Bot is a genuine gaming robot pioneer, with a hot wife to boot.

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The interview covers a bunch of topics, but most interesting is Lawlor's take on pinball kinetics.

There are obviously many aspects involved in kinetics. Every designer has differing goals for the "feel" of the game. Usually these goals are a result of the kinds of games the designers like personally.

Things to consider are, in no particular order:

1) Middle shots are easier for beginners.
2) How to mix stop and go shots with nice return flow shots.
3) How fast is the overall game? Very fast games are very difficult for beginners.
4) When a shot is missed, what happens to the ball? Is it a bad, clunky thing? Does the ball come back in my face?
5) Are these shots just "there,” or do they represent something from the theme?

All of this talk about kinetics got me to thinking about how very different video game development it must be to design a pinball title. These people have to think about machinery, automation, physical player space, not to mention fun.

GameSetInterview: 'Rudy's Father Speaks - The Pat Lawlor Interview' [Gamasutra]

Early on in the touring Grossology exhibit there are two Gas Attack Pinball machines. The game appears to be a standard pinball that's been stripped of decoratives and redesigned to help teach people about how gas is produced in the colon.

The pin balls represent bacteria and the bumpers represent different foods. As you play gas points are wracked up for hitting the different foods. The gassier the food, the higher the point count. If you manage to make it into the beans pockets on the table you're rewarded with a group of children singing a quick rendition of Beans, Beans, The Musical Fruit.

Sure the game isn't really that educational. In fact, all I really leaned is that beans are musical and that pigs can talk, but I love the fact that when someone thought educational game, they thought pinball.

MacCulloch was forced into retirement at age 28 by a nerve condition in his foot — basically, parts of his feet would be completely numb, other parts too sensitive — that made playing basketball impossible. Idle, rich, and concerned that his condition might sink him into depression, MacCulloch looked for support from an old love — pinball machines.

He now owns 80 machines, valued at $200,000, and he's trying to fit in with a new competitive life on the pinball tournament circuit. MacCulloch, who is far from an elite player, swears he's not using pinball to replace the NBA, and readily admits his shortcomings, is nonetheless committed to "win some pinball hardware and get a trophy one of these days."

This is particularly interesting:

"I still get nervous in big tournaments where there has been some big money on the line and it might have been a fraction of what I made in a check in the NBA," he said. "But it's still the pressure of the moment — the heart starts beating a little bit, the games are designed to increase the music just to make you feel something, to make you feel the pressure and rush your shots. When I've needed to I haven't been able to pull some games out of my, um, hat."

In basketball he always had the ability to do what athletes call "slowing the game down," seeing every possibility, making careful, methodical decisions even as he was running full speed. In pinball he feels himself speeding up, the game too often spinning out of control. He wonders why this happens and figures it is simply because he hasn't played as much as the other players, some of whom have been competing for 30 or 40 years.

Bullet-time jokes aside, do you think it's possible to slow down your experience in the midst of a full-speed game? Or is that something restricted to full-motion, athletic competition?

Former NBA Player Todd MacCulloch is Now a Pinball Star [Washington Post, with photo]

Did she ever use the Sarah Palin voice to entice her own First Dude?

No, she said, but once, when she did a voice-over for a pinball machine in Chicago, she used an Elly May Clampett voice. “These critters need some attention,” she says in a soft southern drawl, giving her husband a sexy glance. She’s as pitch-perfect channeling Elly May as she is channeling Palin. “And that was the only time Jeff has kind of hinted that maybe I should talk like that all the time.”

The game? It wasn't one based on Beverly Hillbillies.

According to the Internet Pinball Database it was 1997's Medieval Madness by Williams Electronic Games:

Tina Fey (of "Saturday Night Live" fame) did the voices of the "Opera Singer" princess and the Cockney-talking princess.

You can catch her Clampett over at Pinball News.

Leading Lady [Vanity Fair, Thanks Scott]

For those of you without my financial limitation, the device does ship with a variety of 3D pinball programs, including a few Gottlieb recreations, and the software is designed to work with all once and future pinball programs, regardless of whether or not they support analog input. Me? I'm just going to bookmark the page at www.nanotechent.com for random bouts of drooling.

NANOTECH ENTERTAINMENT INTRODUCES THE ULTIMATE PINBALL GAME CONTROLLER WITH PINBALL WIZARD

New NanoTech products feature state of the art pinball technology

SAN JOSE, Calif. – November 11, 2008 – NANOTECH ENTERTAINMENT is pleased to announce the release of its highly anticipated Pinball Wizard Controller. In keeping with NanoTech’s pursuit of innovative gaming technology, the Pinball Wizard controller lets you experience video pinball the way it is meant to be played; by using flipper buttons, a real plunger, and the ability to shake the table as well as nudge the ball, through the integration of its MOT-ION™ I/O Adapter. Pinball Wizard does it all with no special drivers required. The Pinball Wizard is fully configurable allowing it to work with a variety of Pinball software including the state of the art Future Pinball™ engine. The controller ships with a combination of amazing 3D Pinball games including original titles plus recreations from the world famous pinball manufacturer Gottlieb™. With a software configuration program the Pinball Wizard can be customized to work with all current and future PC Pinball games.

“There has really been no input device for the video pinball enthusiast other than the keyboard, mouse or joystick until now.” commented Robert DeKett, founder and CEO of NanoTech Entertainment. “We have come up with a design that will work with any pinball software, regardless of analog input support. This means we can support all pinball games. Our engineers have crafted a very flexible solution that is designed to support all existing pinball games and is field upgradeable ensuring long lasting support.”

The Pinball Wizard controller incorporates all the elements of a real pinball machine into the palm of your hands. Designed by Arcade Industry veterans and pinball enthusiasts, Pinball Wizard recreates the experience of playing a real pinball machine on your desktop. The Pinball Wizard is constructed with true arcade materials and uses a real plunger and lockdown bar from actual pinball machines assuring the player that real arcade feel.

For more information, go to www.nanotechent.com.

Every time we talked over the years he would mention his infomercial. An hour long commercial for his place that was so packed with info, silly jokes and eyes on retro machines, that it had earned itself a cult following. Finally, one day I asked him how I could watch it and he said that it wasn't online. So I told him to send us a copy so we could host it.

The entire hour may not be for everyone, but if you like arcade gaming, you should probably watch a bit of it. Personally, I think it's awesome.

TNT Amusement

Found among this list of just eight machines is the advent of holographic play fields, the tilt mechanism, flippers, and player mods.

The full list includes Brokers Tip, Humpty Dumpty, Wizard, Hot Tip, Checkpoint, The Twilight Zone, Revenge From Mars and my personal favorite, The Addams Family.

Found among these games is not just a collection of new pinball technology, but a short history of the game that blends so well the mechanical with the virtual.

Top 8 Most Innovative Pinball Machines of All Time [Popular Mechanics]

So, today as i was browsing TAFA for tonight's AFAS I noticed that they had quite a few pinball games that were inspired by video games. Finally I had my chance to show off some pinball flyer art! So, for your pleasure I present some of the finest examples of vg inspired pinball games. The Joust one is especially great as they designed it like a tabletop arcade game. Too cool.

"Everyone loves pinball. It is an unusual kind of entertainment in that it bridges hardcore and casual gamers, while translating very well to videogames," said Melanie Mroz, CEO of SouthPeak Games. "We are going to give the medium the respect it deserves."

Southpeak Games Announces Dream Pinball 3D Cutting Edge Pinball Videogame to Make North American Debut on PC, WiiTM and Nintendo DSTM in Spring 2008

GRAPEVINE, TEXAS - January 9, 2008 - SouthPeak Games today announced Dream Pinball 3D is coming to PC, Wii™ and the Nintendo DS™ in Spring 2008. Developed by veteran studio Topware, this superb pinball simulator creates an authentic pinball experience with refined controls that capitalize on the unique qualities each platform.

"Everyone loves pinball. It is an unusual kind of entertainment in that it bridges hardcore and casual gamers, while translating very well to videogames," said Melanie Mroz, CEO of SouthPeak Games. "We are going to give the medium the respect it deserves."

Dream Pinball 3D boasts six table themes, several different ball options, multi-ball power-ups and the most intense visuals and ball physics a pinball game has ever seen. The Wii™ version utilizes the Wii Remote™ and motion sensor capability to enhance gameplay. The Nintendo DS™ version includes intuitive touch screen control options and clear 3D graphics. The PC version offers pristine visuals and precise flipper controls with the mouse. With this many options to choose from, Dream Pinball 3D will bring out the pinball wizard in everyone!

1UP's Jenn Frank was lucky enough to have come into possession of one of the wildest, wackiest animation moments from the 80s. It was a heady time, one that saw the genre cleansing of former arcade mainstay pinball viciously brutalized by video games. There are no words that could do justice to this animated battle between wannabe Space Invaders and not quote The Bride of Pinbot. Could've used a more metal soundtrack, but it's worth a watch regardless. Frank reveals more about the documentary from whence this came in her latest 1UP blog entry.

Arcade Attack: More '80s Than You Can Handle [1UP]

The "real world" level represents kids' media usage and their parents' attitudes towards it. Left hand (parents' wishes) sends the ball (the kid) to school, books, church and museum. Right hand (the kid's wishes) sends the kid to TV, peers, videogames and the Internet-connected computer at the top left.