PLAY EXPO 2014


Date: 11th & 12th October, 2014
Location: EventCity, Trafford Park, Manchester, UK

Play Expo is the UK's largest console, computer and arcade games exhibition and it returned to EventCity in Manchester for its third year. As in previous years, it is largely about console and retro computing, but the cavernous hall is also home to the country's largest public pinball collection.

Setting-up at Play Expo
Setting-up at Play Expo

We will be reporting live from the show across the weekend, but today is set-up day, so let's have a look to see what has arrived so far.

Set-up of the pinball zone
Set-up of the pinball zone

World Cup Soccer is next
World Cup Soccer is next

The Northeast Retro Gaming Show's (NERG) machines
The Northeast Retro Gaming Show's (NERG) machines

Data East and Sega machines
Data East and Sega machines

The Gottlieb machines row
The Gottlieb solid-state machines row

It's looking like there will be this many machines here
It's looking like there will be this many machines here

There were rumours of an Addams Family Gold hiding in one of the vans outside, but nobody knew which van
There were rumours of an Addams Family Gold hiding in one of the vans outside,
but nobody knew which van!

There will be a number of competitions this weekend
There will be a number of competitions this weekend including
the Pinball News PinGolf Tournament on Sunday

Ad Jonker and Franck Bona talk beer
Ad Jonker and Franck Bona talk beer

Jim Askey's lab has a number of interesting machines, including P-ROC versions of Indiana Jones and Whirlwind
Jim Askey's lab has a number of interesting machines, including P-ROC versions of Indiana Jones and Whirlwind

Phil Dixon brings in Forbidden Planet
Phil Dixon brings in Forbidden Planet

The dance-mat driven Flintstones
The dance-mat driven Flintstones

Pinball Mania are here with plenty of pinball parts
Pinball Mania is here with plenty of pinball parts

A short walk from the pinballs, the video game guys were setting up their own impressive display of arcade machines.

An even bigger display of arcade video games this year
An even bigger display of arcade video games this year

Some memorable arcade games
Some memorable arcade games

The show opened to the public at 11am on Saturday, but the queues were building up outside long before the doors finally opened.

Part of the queue to get into the show
Part of the queue to get into the show - the line ran all the way down the side of the building, doubled back, and then formed a zigzag line in the car park

More of the line to enter the show
More of the line to enter the show

There were plenty of visitors dressed as game characters. We shall see more of them later in this report.

A few of the many game characters in the queue
A few of the many game characters in the queue

You can see the queue in this short video.

The doors duly opened at 11am and the flood of visitors began to pour into the show hall. Once it started, the line moved remarkably quickly, and it wasn't long before everyone was admitted to the show.

The first visitors are admitted to the show
The first visitors are admitted to the show

Some additional stands had been set up on Saturday morning. Pinball Palace had a stand with ColorDMD displays and Rottendog boards, as well as copies of Pinball Wizard magazine.

Sean Mills' Pinball Palace stand
Sean Mills' Pinball Palace stand

The South Coast Slam crew had arrived with four AC/DCs to run their competition
The South Coast Slam crew had arrived with four AC/DCs to run their Shoot to Thrill competition

The Northeast Retro Gaming (NERG) crew were here too
The Northeast Retro Gaming (NERG) crew were here too

The Forbidden Planet game was also set up, although it was only in attract mode and not playable yet. Here's our exclusive look at the machine so far.

At the end of one row of pinballs, the Teenage Cancer Trust has a stand to promote their work. The TCT is the chosen charity for the Northern Lights Pinball team.

The Teenage Cancer Trust - the beneficiary of the Northern Lights Pinball's fundraising - had a stand here as well
The Teenage Cancer Trust - the beneficiary of the Northern Lights Pinball's fundraising - had a stand here as well

The two high score competition machines were set up and available to play
The two high score competition machines were set up and available to play:
Surf 'n Safari for the youngsters, Mustang for the adults

The EM Challenge was run on theis Williams Soccer, where the challenge was to beat the opposition by six goals or more
The EM Challenge was run on this Williams Soccer, where the challenge was to beat the opposition by six goals or more

The NBA Challenge was in full swing with all 30 teams represented
The NBA Challenge was in full swing with all 30 teams represented

The two NBA Fastbreak machines were linked and head-to-head games played
The two NBA Fastbreak machines were linked and head-to-head games played

A little further along the same row, Stern's new The Walking Dead was available to play, and a queue to play it soon built up.

Stern's new The Walking Dead on the Pinball Heaven stand
Stern's new The Walking Dead on the Pinball Heaven stand

Gary Stern arrived at the show on Saturday morning to help promote the game and install the latest version of the software.

Gary Stern
Gary Stern

Gary later had a special medical.

Gary and his nurse
Gary and his 'nurse'
(picture: Mark Robinson)

Pinball Heaven also has a The Wizard of Oz, an Iron Man Vault Edition and Star Trek Pro which were available to play, and one which was not - a pristine refurbished Funhouse for the princely sum of £6,995 ($11,200, €8,650).

The lovely Funhouse restoration
The lovely Funhouse restoration

The pinballs were arranged in seven long back-to-back rows, while the size of the venue meant there was plenty of room between the rows.

Room to wak betwen the rows, no matter your shape or size
Room to walk between the rows, no matter your shape or size

Here's a list of the 118 pinballs we recorded on Sunday morning.

AC/DC (Back in Black LE)
AC/DC (Premium)
AC/DC (Premium)
AC/DC (Premium)
AC/DC (Premium)
Addams Family, The
Addams Family, The
Addams Family, The
Addams Family, The
Aerobatics
Arena
Attack from Mars
Attack from Mars
Avatar
Back to the Future
Batman (Stern)
Batman (Stern)
Baywatch
Big Brave
Black Knight 2000
Black Pyramid
Black Rose
Checkpoint
Circus
Cirqus Voltaire
Congo
Corvette
CSI
CSI
Deadly Weapon
Demolition Man
Domino
Dracula, Barm Stoker's
Eight Ball Deluxe
F-14 Tomcat
F-14 Tomcat
Family Guy
Fathom
Fish Tales
Fish Tales
Fish Tales
Flash Gordon
Flintstones, The
Funhouse
Future Spa
Genesis
Goldeneye
Gorgar
Haunted House
High Speed 2 - The Getaway
High Voltage
Hurricane
Indiana Jones (WMS)
Indiana Jones (WMS)
Indiana Jones (WMS)
Indianapolis 500
Iron Man (Vault Edition)
Jokerz!
Lethal Weapon 3
Lord of the Rings, The
Lord of the Rings, The
Majorettes
Matrix, The
Medieval Madness
Mustang (Pro)
Nautilus
NBA
NBA Fastbreak
NBA Fastbreak
NBA Fastbreak
Operation Thunder
Operation Thunder
Party Zone, The
Pinbot
Police Force
Rescue 911
Roadshow
Robo War
Robo War
Robocop
Shadow, The
Soccer
Spider-Man
Spider-Man
Spider-Man
Star Trek (Stern, Pro)
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Wars (DE)
Star Wars (DE)
Star Wars Episode 1
Starship Troopers
Street Fighter 2
Surf 'N Safari
Surf 'N Safari
Terminator 2
Terminator 3
Transformers (Pro)
Tron (LE)
Twilight Zone
Twilight Zone
Twilight Zone
Twilight Zone
TX-Sector
TX-Sector
TX-Sector
Vicotry
Walking Dead, The (Pro)
Whirlwind
Whirlwind
Whitewater
Whodunnit?
Wizard of Oz, The (Emerald City LE)
World Cup Soccer
World Fair
World Poker Tour
X-Files
X-Men (Magneto LE)

While we saw a number of costumed visitors in the queue outside, there were far more in evidence once the show was in full swing.

Visitors in character costumes
Visitors in character costumes

More cosplay costumes
More cosplay costumes

Dressing up as your favourite character is known as Cosplay (costume play) and is a big thing at games conventions such as this. It had its own seminars area and changing rooms.

The Cosplay Gameshow
The Cosplay Gameshow

Cosplay meets Cosmos
Cosplay meets Cosmos

You can take our exclusive video wal around the show which this year is even longer than ever. Enjoy our Eighteen Minute Tour of Play Expo 2014.

The Pinball Mania NBA Challenge finals took place at 4:45pm on Saturday.

The final of the NBA Challenge, with Ad Jonker and Colin Clunie
The final of the NBA Challenge, with Ad Jonker and Colin Clunie

After a close final it was Colin Clunie who triumphed over second-placed Ad Jonker. Richard Rothwell-Jackson was third.

Winner of the Pinball Mania NBA Challenge, Colin Clunie
Winner of the Pinball Mania NBA Challenge, Colin Clunie

Second place, Ad Jonker
Second place, Ad Jonker

Third place, Richard Rothwell-Jackson
Third place, Richard Rothwell-Jackson

Straight after the NBA Challenge final, the play-offs for the AC/DC Shoot to Thrill competition began.

In the qualifying round, players could choose a song and play a one ball game. Whoever lasted longest on that song would progress to the play-offs.

Franck Bona in the qualifying round
Franck Bona in the qualifying round

This gave twelve quarter finalists who played in groups of three to reduce the numbers down to the final four.

The last four in the Shoot to Thrill competition
The last four in the Shoot to Thrill competition
Jim Lindsay, Richard Rothwell-Jackson, Kate Morris and Franck Bona

Will Barber starts the final
Will Barber starts the final

In the final, the last man or woman still playing without trapping the ball would be the winner.

The four finalists
The four finalists

One by one they dropped out. First Kate, then Richard, leaving Franck and Jim to see who could keep plaing their single ball the longest. In the end it was Jim who kept going to take first place.

Winner of the Shoot to Thrill competition,Jim Lindsay
Winner of the Shoot to Thrill competition,Jim Lindsay, with organiser Will Barber

Second place, Franck Bona
Second place, Franck Bona

Third place, Richard Rothwell-Jackson
Third place, Richard Rothwell-Jackson

Sunday's action began at 10am, and without the queues from the previous day. In fact the show was noticeably quieter, meaning it was possible to find a free pinball to play without any waiting.

Sunday was also the day for the Pinball News PinGolf Tournament, which ran from 11am until 3pm.

The Pinball News PinGolf Tournament
The Pinball News PinGolf Tournament

Three machines were used - X-Men Magneto LE, The Lord of the Rings and NBA Fastbreak - each of which had two objectives (or 'holes') which had to be completed in the fewest number of balls (or 'shots'). The total number of shots used for all six holes gave the course total.

Playing in the PinGolf
Playing in the PinGolf

Last year's winner Wayne Johns raced to the top of the leader board with his score of 11. Franck Bona pipped him with a course total of 10, but it was Andrew Foster who returned to the clubhouse with the lowest score on his card with a 9. Trophies were presented by Pinball News editor, Martin Ayub.

Winner of the Pinball News PinGolf Tournament 2014, Andrew Foster
Winner of the Pinball News PinGolf Tournament 2014, Andrew Foster

Second place, Franck Bona
Second place, Franck Bona

Third place, Wayne Johns
Third place, Wayne Johns

With the PinGolf Tournament completed it was time for us to pack everything away, jump in the car and head for the airport to fly to Pinball Expo.

This year's Play Expo was a big success for everyone involved. Visitor numbers appeared to be significantly up on the previous year, and visitors flocked to the Northern Lights Pinball area, keeping the machines busy all weekend.

The number of side events also increased. Jim Askey's lab contained some very unusual machines which proved popular with visitors, especially those connected to the dance mat and the games controller. The South Coast Slam brought their AC/DC Shoot to Thrill competition along for the first time, while the high score, NBA Challenge and PinGolf competitions all returned to provide a challenge and help raise money for the Teenage Cancer Trust.

Mark Robinson presents a cheque for £3,466 to the Teenage Cancer Trust
Mark Robinson presents a cheque for £3,466 to the Teenage Cancer Trust

The Northern Lights Pinball team put on a great show in their enlarged area of the EventCity hall, and although it will be hard to beat, they will no doubt be back again next year for an even bigger showing.

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