One great thing I have noticed about the pinball side of the amusement business is the amount of R&D spent by different companies in the business of “modding” pinball machines. There are quite a few interesting ideas that are done in the efforts to spruce up old machines and that often veers into developing new tech. It’s not something we really see too much of on the video arcade side although granted, the arena of creating playfield toys is wide. On the pinball tech side, we have been covering the colorization efforts of ColorDMD for a while now and they have just released details on a new display they have created along with three new titles. Let’s check them out:
The New RGB Color Display
Previous ColorDMD displays have used a color LCD and the appropriate ROM. That model essentially emulates the dots. The new RGB LED model uses 4096 multi-color LEDs to create the display, which will look more authentic while offering deeper contrast. A pilot run of these new displays begins shipping this week.
New Colorized Games
RollerCoaster Tycoon: Released in 2002 by Stern Pinball, this was a license based on the popular (at the time) video game series. Rollercoasters and pinball machines with ramps makes plenty of sense and this one was popular although I’m not finding a number of exact units sold. Either way, here’s the new color version in action:
Cirqus Voltaire: This highly rated table was released in 1997 by Williams. It was the only Williams game to mount the display on the playfield instead of in the backbox. According to the PR, it was CV that served as the inspiration for the new ColorDMD LED display platform mentioned above. More info found here; a trailer video has not been released yet for this one.
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines: This Stern release had the colorization completed “some time ago” but was held to be a part of the RGD LED display launch. More info found here; it also doesn’t have a preview video yet but this image gives you an idea:
Wiuth Terminator they’ve hit 45 games colorized – I wonder what they will pick for the big 5-0 (maybe another Star Trek, since that is turning 50 this year). If you own one of the machines that they have colorized, have you picked up a color upgrade yet or are you still waiting for the right game to come along?
