Deeproot Pinball Throws Their Hat Into The Ring With Retro Atomic Zombie Adventureland

Also known as RAZA Pinball, newcomer deeproot Pinball (yes, they insist on having the first word done with no capitals) has begun taking orders for their first title, with two different options available: Arcade Edition and Xtra Edition. Orders opened up on Tuesday, although I only saw the announcement in one of my feeds this evening. Yes, I know about the other pinball announcement that was teased today, but since it was just a tease and everyone’s seen it already, I’ll just mention that on Newsbytes tomorrow so that deeproot can enjoy some limelight for their new games here.

Per the photos you see below, these will have a distinctive aesthetic design from their competitors, with a unique looking backbox as well as a fresh new design for the lockbar area, which uses a touchscreen display instead of just a piece of metal. They almost have a 1950s “retro-future” vibe to them. They are calling this the Pinbar, which is the first time (that I’m aware of) that a screen has been integrated into this part of a pinball machine; I also believe it’s the first use of a touchscreen in pinball. The Pinbar display is 19″ wide on both models, while the “Backbar” in the backbox is 24″.

First, here’s the Arcade Edition (AE):

And now the Xtra Edition (XE), which looks to be their version of a Limited Edition (also in that it is limited to only 300 units):

The sales page for the two lists out the various features, with the XE model enjoying additions such as: Custom laser etching, PinArmor™ Playfield Protection, special anti-reflective glass (that also is supposed to reduce fingerprint appearances), powder coating on all the metal bits, different artwork, a “full” toy package, a 4.1ch sound system and 160W amp (AE models only get 2.1ch and fewer amps), a “Ned” toy mechanism, a shaker motor, side blades, neon rings, custom mechanized topper, enhanced support and more. The price difference between the two: AE starts at $5899, XE starts at $9499. Both units can be customized for an extra cost, although the only extras from the Xtra model are the PinBar Screen Protector and the shipping container. Otherwise, if you only want some of the XE’s features in your AE game, then you can pay what you want for that on each specific item.

From what I’ve seen of the PinBar, that is really intriguing and could be a game-changer; deeproot also employs some top-notch animation talent, so I look forward to seeing more of that, and other fresh ideas that this crew is bringing to the pinball mix. Hopefully, it won’t be too long before I experience how this plays, but until then we’ll settle for some video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocEdsQ91y8I

One thing that I am perplexed about is what they are calling a “limited order period” on the game. Where the pandemic hasn’t disappeared yet, I’m not sure why anyone would want to limit how long they’ll sell something for. I just don’t know anyone buying new games right now, especially with the deluge of used equipment that’s available out there, and manufacturers are seeing that too. Sure, pinball does tend to be a slightly different beast, giving that “buy new” the one exception out there, but I hope that this will be open for a while and not something like a month or two.

What do you think about this, from what has been seen on these games so far?