The Wizard of Oz Pinball Shows Its Many Colors

When Jersey Jack Pinball’s new Wizard of Oz Pinball machine finally made it’s first major public appearance at E3 this year, we caught that it would be using multi-colored LEDs for all backlit targets and playfield items. It was a first for a pinball game and looked mighty impressive and now they have created an extensive video that shows off just what those lights can do. It might seem like a small touch but where we have been waiting for any real innovative ideas to come along for the game, even seemingly small ones carry great importanance. Of course when seen all together, and in the dark, the effect is nothing short of awesome. This video shows some extensive footage of the game in action and it is in the most complete form we have seen it yet. JJP is promising that we haven’t heard of all the firsts that this game is bringing to the world of pinball and with it supposed to be really rolling out in September, we will know those answers here soon. Towards the end of this video is where we see the multi-color general illumination lights in action – playing this game in a dark environment seems to be the way to go.

I am quite pleased to see this technology being used in pinball machines, something I have been wanting to see officially supported for some time now. I certainly would like to see it used more often in arcade titles. Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing Arcade is a great example of how multi-color LEDs can make a cabinet really stand out – I think that using such lighting in marquees could go a long way, or at least if not in a multi-color direction by bringing back something similar to the old school pinball backglass lighting as a way to draw extra attention to the game (like Atari’s Skydiver, one of the few games to ever bother with that idea). Multi-color LEDs could also be employed with coin reject buttons, just as a subtle touch.