Among the old pinball manufacturers one name that enthusiasts will easily recall is that of Gottlieb. Gottlieb got started in 1927 making early pinballs and created many different kinds of tables all the way up to their last release, Barb Wire in 1996. Some may also recall that they made video games for a while as well, the most famous of which is Q*Bert although they did produce a couple of others that I particularly enjoyed (such as Krull and Reactor).
Now classic Gottlieb tables are on their way back in virtual form due to an agreement that newcomer Nanotech Entertainment made with the existing Gottlieb Development LLC (personally I had no idea that they
were still around). The pinball tables are being recreated for Nanotech’s Multipin video based pinball machine which states that it uses a special engine to recreate the feel of bumping and nudging a table to move the ball around accurately. According to the company website they have two flavors of the MultiPin machine, with the much more expensive MultiPin Gold table suggesting that it will be the one to support more classic tables (Gottlieb isn’t mentioned specifically but I doubt that they would go to all of this trouble to release these tables on a limited edition unit). Pictured is the standard unit, the Gold one has a different color layout.
Hit the post break for the full press release but what are your thoughts on this? Are these video pinball tables a good thing or a bad thing for pinball in your view? Since I have not had a chance to play one yet I won’t pass judgment on it as would like to see how the motion engine works first.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Robert DeKett
Phone: (408) 642-1559
Fax: (408) 351-4625
Email: bob@nanotechent.com
NANOTECH ENTERTAINMENT GETS A REPLAY WITH GOTTLIEB
Classic Pinball Tables Featured in New NanoTech products
SAN JOSE, Calif. – June 24, 2008 – NANOTECH ENTERTAINMENT, a newly formed innovative gaming technology company, today announced it has entered into a license agreement with Gottlieb® Development LLC. NanoTech will feature Gottlieb pinball tables in their newest coin-op and consumer products devoted to video pinball enthusiasts around the world.
“NanoTech’s recreations of Gottlieb’s pinball tables are truly remarkable.” stated Robert Fesjian, of Gottlieb® Development, LLC. “The ability to nudge and bump the ball combined with the life like graphics of the tables provides an astonishing pinball experience.”
“The mere mention of the Gottlieb name immediately brings to mind pinball,” stated Robert DeKett, founder and CEO of NanoTech. “Gottlieb is iconic, and we are thrilled to have the opportunity to highlight Gottlieb pinball tables as part of our new consumer and arcade products.” NanoTech will be offering recreations of Gottlieb tables in its MultiPin product as well as bundling PC recreations with its Pinball Wizard desktop controller.
For more information, go to www.nanotechent.com.
About NanoTech Entertainment
Headquartered in San Jose, California, NanoTech Entertainment is a technology company that has a unique business model operating as a virtual manufacturer. NanoTech develops its technology and games, and then licenses them to third parties for manufacturing and distribution in order to keep its overhead extremely low and operations efficient in the new global manufacturing economy.
With an ever-expanding lineup of technology and products, NanoTech is redefining the role of developers and manufacturers in the Gaming market. More information about NanoTech Entertainment and its products can be found on the web at www.nanotechent.com
# # #
The NanoTech Entertainment logo, MultiPin and Pinball Wizard are trademarks of NanoTech Entertainment, Inc. All rights reserved. All other marks are the property of their respective owners.
Didn’t Robert DeKett work at UltraCade and GlobalVR? Sounds to me like someone is repackaging the failed Ultrapin.
Yes he was.
Cool news I suppose, but all pinball heads will tell you that Gottlieb is crap compared to Williams. I just can’t really see anyone getting excited about Gottlieb machines, Williams machines though I think would do very well.
The idea of this system has its roots in many companies, though there will be a major move by the end of the year towards a new platform for this type of game.
Nanotech will be featuring in the start-up feature we are penning at the moment, along with news on developments with Shaggy’s venue.
This seems to be another David Foley / UltraCade / GlobalVR affiliated release, but instead of being based on Visual Pinball & VPinMAME like UltraPin it’s using Future Pinball instead. UltraPin supposedly didn’t do so well. I don’t know why whoever Nanotech is a front for believes that a PC based freeware pinball simulator program in a down scaled pinball cabinet is going to any better this time around; especially priced at the same starting MSRP, $6000. That’s correct, anyone can freely and legally download Visual Pinball, VPinMAME and Future Pinball and run them on a Windows based PC.
The assumptions were at least somewhat correct… Foley came out of the woodwork today to pronounce his personal affiliation with NanoTech at VPForums.com. One can read up on what he has to say there. If one chooses to do so I’d also suggest to check the archives to read his posts and the responses concerning UltraPin back from about 2 years ago. It should help put one’s opinion regarding the situation in better perspective.
Good riddance. I hope they cut off his joystick.
Beware of this company!
I ordered the Pinball Wizard on October 20, 2009 and got a receipt from PayPal (the only way I could find to order.) My cc was charged right away. I received no further info. After waiting a while I called them twice leaving a message and received no call back. I then called a third time and using their voice phone system got through to someone in finance. I explained and he said someone would call me right back. I got a call back from the guy I was leaving messages. He said they ran out of motion boards and were behind because they had so many orders. I said they should not charge your CC if they are not ready to ship and should notify the buyer of a delay. He said he would see to it my unit shipped that day and that I would receive a call back later that day with the info. You guessed it no call back. I called two days later and once again no return call. I then called pay pal and they said that their status was that it had a tracking number and was waiting to be picked up on November 7. Waited another week and no package. Called Pay Pal and they said the status never changed from waiting for pick up. I have to wait another few days and if it is not received PayPal will refund my money.
Save yourself the grief and waste of time chasing these guys. To bad, being an avid pinball hobbyist (I have a Firepower in my office) I was really looking forward to trying this out.