http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/tiltwarning/bring-back-the-arcade-the-art-of-play

OUR GOAL

We're dedicated to building an entirely custom classic pinball arcade art installation starting with five mechanically restored vintage 1970s pinball machines featuring art packages reimagined by some of the most influential and respected counter pop culture artists working in the game today. We aim to recreate the aura of those public game rooms that ruled the underground of yesteryear, the analog era, retrofit with modern styles relevant to the minds of a new generation. We're here to bring back the arcade.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/tiltwarning/bring-back-the-arcade-the-art-of-play

Thanks for your consideration and support. Please spread the word.

Thanks to you all for checking out our work, and the Kickstarter campaign. Definitely appreciate you all for that.

Regarding the machines we're going to be stripping down and retheming, here's what I wrote up in reply to someone who was adamantly against the concept of us taking perfectly good games out of collectors circulation. Hopefully this addresses any concerns that folks reading here might also have.

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I should have taken pics of the project El Dorado before I blanked it out for the video shoot.

It had been kept in an outdoor shed, NE Ohio. No coin door, the cabinet was filled with leaves and dirt nshit. The original leg bolts were long gone, someone along the way had hammered anchors into the screwholes, and then attached the legs with masonry screws. The cabinet was split at all 4 vertical joints. And that's all without even commenting on its cosmetic appearance.

There was no playfield glass, what rubbers were on the game were dry rotted, the right slingshot rubber had actually been replaced with Molex at some point. Playfield paint was weathered, chipped, and lifting, all of which I saw AFTER cleaning the playfield with some CP100.

I found the game when a friend cleaning out his recently deceased uncle's house called me up to take a look at it, as he knew I was into pinball. Either I took it, or it was going into the dumpster.

That El Dorado would have never been played again if it weren't for my having gotten the call from a buddy who happened to know I was into pinball. And if I hadn't been planning this project, I would have only taken the game for parts. With this project potentially happening, that El Dorado actually has a chance to live another life as a pinball machine, and not just become pinball parts carrion, fodder for vultures.

Since recovering the game, I've cleaned the entire brainboard, playfield undercarriage, and backbox workings. Built it a new cabinet, and prepped the playfield for paint. Actually, now that I think about it, I did take a pic when I was cleaning the brainboard - http://tiltwarning.com/CleanedAndTightened.jpg - Filed and scrubbed every switch, tightened every stack, wire brushed every assembly, and sanded down and shellacked the plywood it all sits on.

Every game we're using as a custom conversion in this project has a similar story. The Atlantis came from the same source as the El Dorado, and is in equivalent condition, so I'll be sure to document that for posterity.

So, between the account I've just detailed, and our resumes listed on the Kickstarter site, I'd hope you take the time to adjust your perception of us as heathen pinball destroyers.
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Quoting from the Kickstarter page, "From each pair of games we have, we properly restore one, preserving that table in its original state, and the lesser of the two machines will become the art conversion, custom pinball project."

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/tiltwarning/bring-back-the-arcade-the-art-of-play

And so far we've built 3 games on our own, there's another project in progress, and with this Kickstarter campaign, we're hoping to jumpstart production of 5 more. More games you say? Working on it.

Lotta traffic hitting the Kickstarter page from here, thanks again for checking us out.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/tiltwarning/bring-back-the-arcade-the-art-of-play

Been experimenting with making .gifs

PressStart.gif

We're on Facebook now as well, for anyone looking to link up and help us spread the word through social media - http://www.facebook.com/TiltWarning

Thanks!

Been clocking a fair amount of press, here's a quick link dump for you all to peruse:

- http://laughingsquid.com/evil-mansion-a-hand-painted-lsd-themed-pinball-machine

- http://papa.org/blog/2013/02/bring-back-the-arcade-the-art-of-play

- http://www.theverge.com/2013/2/14/3987438/tilt-warning-customs-launches-kickstarter-pinball-arcade

- http://boingboing.net/2013/02/19/kickstarter-pinball-machines.html

- http://laughingsquid.com/bring-back-the-arcade-a-custom-pinball-arcade-art-show-featuring-designs-by-underground-artists

And the Kickstarter link again, for those of you interested in supporting our art project.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/tiltwarning/bring-back-the-arcade-the-art-of-play

Thanks ecurtz, we appreciate your support.

Not only is Coop an amazing artist - http://TheArtOfCoop.com

But he's wicked intelligent too, like, remarkably so. Check out this interview he did with Marc Maron, kind of mind blowing. Definitely well worth listening to. - http://www.wtfpod.com/podcast/episodes/episode_318_-_coop

Confirmed pinhead as well. He collects Bally's, big Dave Christensen fan. Owns the original Nitro Groundshaker backglass concept art.

Updated the Kickstarter page with some iconic art by the participating artists.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/tiltwarning/bring-back-the-arcade-the-art-of-play

Don't know how many of you folks are familiar with Juxtapoz Magazine, but they're the art mag with the world's largest circulation numbers and online readership. They featured our project on their frontpage today - http://Juxtapoz.com

Also, we updated the Kickstarter page with a short video clip of Frank Kozik talking about his pinball inspirations - http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/tiltwarning/bring-back-the-arcade-the-art-of-play/posts/414905

If you're not familiar with Kozik, he's been credited by such sources as Rolling Stone Magazine and the Smithsonian Museum of American Art with single-handedly reviving the Rock Concert Poster, which was essentially a lost art until he brought it back in the early 80's. Mighty honored to have him on board.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/tiltwarning/bring-back-the-arcade-the-art-of-play

Thanks for your support.

If you read up a bit further in the thread, I explained how I go about selecting the games to use for our art conversions. The assertion that I am pulling playable games out of the collectors' pool is simply unfounded. Get that.

I choose to go with Gottliebs specifically because of the availability of parts, my familiarity with their function, and affinity for their gameplay.

So far we've completed rethemes of: Gottlieb Dodge City, Williams Doozie, Gottlieb Abra Ca Dabra. All of which were collected as doubles, one functioning, one thrashed. The functioning games were restored and returned to the collectors' pool, and the rethemed games used to promote pinball on a level no one else has ever come close to approaching.

If you'd like to buy any leftover backglass or used cabinet from the project, feel free to msg me through Pinside here and we can work out a deal. Be forewarned though, they are absolute crap. Hence having been cast aside for the sake of this project.

Thanks for taking a look at our work.

Wanted to correct myself here, as my accomplishments have been matched, or even bettered, by a few pinball artists:

One of our collaborators, Wade Krause, worked with an artist by the name of William Wiley on a custom art conversion of a Gottlieb North Star that made its way to the Smithsonian Museum of American Art. AND Wade Krause worked with brothers Michael and Christian Schiess on the visible pinball machines, one of which is in San Francisco's Exploratorium science museum. While another visible pin calls the Pacific Pinball Museum home.

Feel like this is pretty rare company to be keeping.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/tiltwarning/bring-back-the-arcade-the-art-of-play

Sadly, doesn't look like we're going to make our Kickstarter goal, but that's alright. A few new opportunities have presented themselves along the way, as we generated quite a bit of press and attention.

Thanks to everyone who chipped in to back our project, helped spread the word, or otherwise encouraged our vision.

Definitely stay tuned to http://TiltWarning.com

More to come.

Peace.

-Dave