ABBA Pinball Stream, BBQ Challenge on Sale, Barrels of Fun Factory Tour & More

Last night, the popular Twitch / YouTube pinball streamer Loose Flip aired the first-ever extended stream of Pinball Brothers’ brand new game ABBA. The specific game that was streamed was provided by Pinball Brothers’ European distributor RS Pinball. Yes the players are speaking German in the video, but the gameplay is in English :). I have embedded it below for anyone who wants to check it out.

https://www.youtube.com/looseflip

Over the past year, American Pinball has run several limited-time sales on its games in conjunction with various holiday weekends. Previously, all of its games but Barry O’s Barbeque Challenge were eligible for the discount. This week, American is running a special $500 off Labor Day sale on BBQ Challenge. From 8/23/2024 through 9/2/2024, AP is lowering the price of the game to $6,495, from its regular MSRP $6,995.

https://www.american-pinball.com/games/barry-os-bbq-challenge/

The Texas-based manufacturer of Labyrinth pinball announced this afternoon that it is opening up its factory to the public for a tour on Saturday, October 12th from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM in conjunction with the upcoming Houston Arcade Expo.

Shuttle busses will be available to take show attendees from the Houston Marriott Westchase to the Barrels of Fun factory, ten minutes away.

https://www.houstonarcadeexpo.com/

This morning I wrote about Stern Pinball’s new partnership with Costco. Stern has also created a new turnkey office pinball solution for companies looking to make their lounges a fun place for employees to hang out and bond.

According to a new flyer for the program from Stern, for “as low as $499/Month” companies can rent a pinball machine with included maintenance, setup and delivery. The list of games shown in the ad includes Foo Fighters, Stranger Things, Mandalorian, JAWS, Godzilla, Venom, Jurassic Park and Avengers Infinity Quest.

That’s not cheap, but I can see big corporations possibly trying it out. Back before we decided to close my company’s office permanently during COVID we used to have a pinball machine there that everyone loved.

I don’t know whether these new volume-driving initiatives from Stern will work, but I like seeing them thinking outside-the-box to try to generate sales and keep the production line moving. The healthier pinball companies are, the better it is for the hobby.

SNK, creator of the popular King of Fighters series of fighting games, is celebrating the 30th anniversary of the franchise. The first game in the series, King of Fighters ’94 made its debut in arcades on the Neo Geo MVS on August 25, 1994.

SNK created a special website to celebrate the anniversary, on which it plays to roll out 30 “exclusive programs” over the next several months. The first of which is the release of development documents for the series later today.

https://www.kof30th.com/en/

Stern Pinball to Sell New Jurassic Park Home Edition Plus in Partnership with Costco

There had been rumblings about a potential new collaboration between Stern Pinball and Costco on Pinside for a week or so and today it became official. Stern announced that it will sell an exclusive version of its Jurassic Park Home Edition pinball machine at approximately 25% of its US warehouse clubs and online.

This special version of Jurassic Park Home will be called the “Plus” edition and include a couple of exclusive features, including Insider Connected, which is really neat because it means more achievements :). The new model will also include a solid wood playfield and a cosmetic coin door.

The price of Jurassic Park Home Plus will be $4,999 at Costco locations and $5,999 online at the Stern website.

At this time, Stern does not plan to sell kits to add Insider Connected to existing Jurassic Park Home games.

Pictures of the new Jurassic Park Home Edition Plus:

Pictures of the original Jurassic Park Home Edition on location:

The First Video of Dutch Pinball Exclusive’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Big Trouble in Little China Pinball Teaser, JAWS “The Shark is Broken” Topper Mode & More

A little over an hour ago, Dutch Pinball Exclusive shared the first ever video of its upcoming pinball machine Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland on its Facebook page. I can’t seem to get the video to embed in this article, so I have included a link to it below.

The short clip shows player-controlled spinning disks that are on the playfield near the outlanes, which is a really cool idea.

https://www.facebook.com/watch?v=876721107678816

Yesterday afternoon, the In Before the Lock podcast shared the debut of the teaser trailer for a brand new homebrew pinball machine from Mudflaps Pinball, creator of the amazing Friday the 13th homebrew pinball machine. Calling Friday the 13th a homebrew doesn’t do it justice. The machine was fantastic. It was a production-quality game with amazing art and callouts from some of the actual actors from the movies.

Mudflaps Pinball’s next project is a game based on the 1986 John Carpenter classic film Big Trouble in Little China.

We’ve had no shortage of news from Stern Pinball lately. First late last week they showed off the cool new JAWS: the Revenge Challenge Mode. Then yesterday I reported about the Company’s new relationship with Costco and the Jurassic Park Home Edition Plus machine. Now today they are going to provide is with the new JAWS “The Shark is Broken” topper mode.

This afternoon at 4:00 PM Central time on Stern Pinball’s Twitch and YouTube channels the game’s design team will give us a sneak peek at the upcoming mode.

It’s cool that we’ll get to see that today, but what it likely means is that we aren’t going to get a teaser or a peek at Stern’s upcoming cornerstone game, which is rumored to be based upon Marvel’s X-Men. I have heard from strong sources that the new game is already on the production line at Stern and that there is a number of them New In Box ready to go. Will we get a brief teaser for the game late this week and the launch during the first week of September? It has to be coming fairly soon.

One thing I will say is that Stern is the King of content. There’s rarely a shortage of things to say about them. They make the hobby interesting.

https://www.youtube.com/user/sternpinballinc

This morning Homepin shared a flyer for its next game Blues Brothers on its Facebook page. The game is scheduled to make an appearance at the upcoming Newcastle Pinball Show in mid-September.

https://pinfest.com.au/pinfest-2024/

Earlier today, the iconic video game manufacturer Capcom announced that it is going to bring out another collection of classic fighting games appropriately named The Capcom Fighting Collection 2.

I own the Capcom Fighting Collection 1, the Capcom Beat ‘Em Up Bundle and the Capcom Arcade Stadium classic game compilations on Steam already, so I’ll definitely buy this one when it comes out sometime in 2025. The list of games in this one include:

  • Capcom vs. SNK: Millennium Fight 2000 Pro

  • Capcom vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium 2001

  • Capcom Fighting Evolution

  • Street Fighter Alpha 3 UPPER

  • Project Justice

  • Power Stone

  • Power Stone 2

  • Plasma Sword: Nightmare of Bilstein

https://www.capcom-games.com/cfc2/en-us/

Below is the trailer for the game:

ABBA Pinball Stream, BBQ Challenge on Sale, Barrels of Fun Factory Tour & More

Last night, the popular Twitch / YouTube pinball streamer Loose Flip aired the first-ever extended stream of Pinball Brothers’ brand new game ABBA. The specific game that was streamed was provided by Pinball Brothers’ European distributor RS Pinball. Yes the players are speaking German in the video, but the gameplay is in English :). I have embedded it below for anyone who wants to check it out.

https://www.youtube.com/looseflip

Over the past year, American Pinball has run several limited-time sales on its games in conjunction with various holiday weekends. Previously, all of its games but Barry O’s Barbeque Challenge were eligible for the discount. This week, American is running a special $500 off Labor Day sale on BBQ Challenge. From 8/23/2024 through 9/2/2024, AP is lowering the price of the game to $6,495, from its regular MSRP $6,995.

https://www.american-pinball.com/games/barry-os-bbq-challenge/

The Texas-based manufacturer of Labyrinth pinball announced this afternoon that it is opening up its factory to the public for a tour on Saturday, October 12th from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM in conjunction with the upcoming Houston Arcade Expo.

Shuttle busses will be available to take show attendees from the Houston Marriott Westchase to the Barrels of Fun factory, ten minutes away.

https://www.houstonarcadeexpo.com/

This morning I wrote about Stern Pinball’s new partnership with Costco. Stern has also created a new turnkey office pinball solution for companies looking to make their lounges a fun place for employees to hang out and bond.

According to a new flyer for the program from Stern, for “as low as $499/Month” companies can rent a pinball machine with included maintenance, setup and delivery. The list of games shown in the ad includes Foo Fighters, Stranger Things, Mandalorian, JAWS, Godzilla, Venom, Jurassic Park and Avengers Infinity Quest.

That’s not cheap, but I can see big corporations possibly trying it out. Back before we decided to close my company’s office permanently during COVID we used to have a pinball machine there that everyone loved.

I don’t know whether these new volume-driving initiatives from Stern will work, but I like seeing them thinking outside-the-box to try to generate sales and keep the production line moving. The healthier pinball companies are, the better it is for the hobby.

SNK, creator of the popular King of Fighters series of fighting games, is celebrating the 30th anniversary of the franchise. The first game in the series, King of Fighters ’94 made its debut in arcades on the Neo Geo MVS on August 25, 1994.

SNK created a special website to celebrate the anniversary, on which it plays to roll out 30 “exclusive programs” over the next several months. The first of which is the release of development documents for the series later today.

https://www.kof30th.com/en/

Stern Pinball to Sell New Jurassic Park Home Edition Plus in Partnership with Costco

There had been rumblings about a potential new collaboration between Stern Pinball and Costco on Pinside for a week or so and today it became official. Stern announced that it will sell an exclusive version of its Jurassic Park Home Edition pinball machine at approximately 25% of its US warehouse clubs and online.

This special version of Jurassic Park Home will be called the “Plus” edition and include a couple of exclusive features, including Insider Connected, which is really neat because it means more achievements :). The new model will also include a solid wood playfield and a cosmetic coin door.

The price of Jurassic Park Home Plus will be $4,999 at Costco locations and $5,999 online at the Stern website.

At this time, Stern does not plan to sell kits to add Insider Connected to existing Jurassic Park Home games.

Pictures of the new Jurassic Park Home Edition Plus:

Pictures of the original Jurassic Park Home Edition on location:

Stacks network speeds up with Nakamoto upgrade, unveils sBTC

  • The Nakamoto upgrade is underway on the Stacks network.
  • The upgrade will increase transaction speed and introduce another asset class that allows broader transactions.

Stacks, one of the leading Layer 2 networks on the Bitcoin network, has announced a significant upgrade. This upgrade enhances the network’s speed, making transactions faster and more efficient.

Additionally, the upgrade will introduce a new asset class called sBTC.

Stacks begins Nakamoto upgrade

According to documents from Stacks, the rollout of the Nakamoto upgrade has begun on the network. This upgrade significantly enhances the Stacks blockchain, initiated at Bitcoin block 840,360.

As of this writing, the current Bitcoin block is 858,602, indicating that the Nakamoto upgrade is well underway.

The Nakamoto upgrade aims to significantly improve transaction speeds on the network, reducing settlement times from minutes to seconds. This enhancement is expected to significantly increase the efficiency and usability of the blockchain, making it more appealing for users and developers.

In addition to these improvements, the Nakamoto upgrade will pave the way for introducing sBTC, a new asset class on the network.

The network will launch the new asset four weeks after the upgrade’s implementation. The sBTC is designed to facilitate the seamless transfer of Bitcoin (BTC) between the blockchain and Stacks. It will also be used as gas for transactions on the Stacks network. 

Importantly, sBTC is a decentralized asset backed 1:1 by Bitcoin, ensuring that it retains the value and security associated with BTC while enabling greater functionality within the Stacks ecosystem.

How this upgrade could impact the Stacks and Bitcoin network

Stacks is recognized as the largest Layer 2 network on Bitcoin. It has a Total Value Locked (TVL) of over $99 million, according to data from CoinMarketCap.

This achievement is particularly significant given that Bitcoin was not originally designed as a decentralized finance (DeFi) network. However, Layer 2 solutions like Stacks have innovatively expanded Bitcoin’s capabilities, enabling DeFi activities on the network.

One of the primary challenges faced by Stacks and other Layer 2 networks on Bitcoin has been speed. The Nakamoto upgrade aims to address this issue by significantly enhancing transaction speeds and reducing settlement times from minutes to seconds. This upgrade is expected to improve the Stacks network and have a positive ripple effect on other related networks built on Bitcoin.

As a result of the Nakamoto upgrade, the Bitcoin network is likely to see increased activity, as faster transaction times make it more attractive for various use cases, particularly in DeFi.

This surge in activity could lead to greater demand for Stacks’ native token, STX, as more users engage with the network and its associated services.

How STX has fared in the last 24 hours

Stacks [STX] has recently experienced significant positive momentum, but this trend was briefly interrupted on 26th August. According to AMBCrypto’s analysis of its daily chart, STX saw a decline of over 4%.

The decline caused its price to drop from around $1.83 to approximately $1.76. Despite this pullback, STX quickly regained some ground, with its price rising by over 1% as of this writing, bringing it to around $1.77.

Source: TradingView

Realistic or not, here’s STX’s market cap in BTC’s terms

Importantly, the decline on 26th August did not disrupt STX’s overall bullish trend. The Relative Strength Index (RSI) remains around 60, signaling that the asset is still bullish.

The RSI level suggests that despite a brief correction, the broader positive sentiment and buying pressure for STX continue to support its upward trajectory.

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Bitcoin closes above a key level: Is now the time to grab BTC?

  • Bitcoin price action flips bullish.
  • Bitcoin pulling institutions due to its yearly gains.

Bitcoin [BTC] has closed above the Bull Market Support band, a critical level on the higher timeframe, after three consecutive weeks of staying below it.

This recovery signals potential for BTC’s price to move higher. Despite brief deviations, the price action now suggests a bullish trend, with the current level around $67k acting as a key liquidity zone.

Bitcoin breaking through the liquidity zone with strong volume and staying above it, makes traders and investors feel confident to go long, while others might add to their positions.

Source: TradingView

Bitcoin’s pull is unstoppable

The institutional interest in Bitcoin continues to grow, strengthening its upward momentum. Semler Scientific recently purchased 83 additional Bitcoin, worth $5 million, bringing their total holdings to 1,012 BTC.

This acquisition positions them as the fourth-largest Bitcoin-holding company in the US, excluding miners.

Historically, BTC has shown resilience, with only three years of negative percentage change since its inception, while the other 12 years have been positive.

Source: CryptoQuant

Semler’s commitment to buy more BTC, backed by a $150M fundraising effort, reflects the increasing institutional adoption of Bitcoin, which is driving the market higher.

Despite challenges, Bitcoin consistently demonstrates its potential to reach new highs. With this year already showing positive growth, expectations are for a strong finish, reinforcing the bullish sentiment.

BTC and S&P 500 divergence

Bitcoin price movements often mirror those of the U.S. stock market, particularly the S&P 500. When the S&P 500 rises, BTC tends to follow, and vice versa.

In August, when the market dropped by 6% due to recession fears, Bitcoin price also saw a sharp decline of 30%.

However, as the market has since recovered, trading near all-time highs, BTC remains 20% below its July level and 30% below its March 2024 level.

Source: Bloomberg

This divergence presents a compelling opportunity to buy BTC, with the expectation that it will catch up to the stock market’s recovery.

Read Bitcoin’s [BTC] Price Prediction 2024-25

Stablecoin supply increases

Lastly, the increasing supply of stablecoins like USDT and USDC also supports a higher BTC price. Over the past three months, their market capitalization has grown by 3%, indicating rising demand.

With BTC supply growth slowing after the halving, this increasing demand suggests that price is likely to continue climbing higher.

Bitcoin

Source: CryptoQuant

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Crypto investments see inflows amidst Fed rate cut hype – What about BTC?

  • Bitcoin ETFs saw significant inflows as the market reacted to potential Fed rate cuts.
  • BlackRock increased Bitcoin holdings, reflecting growing institutional interest amid shifting economic conditions.

Recent trends revealed a notable uptick in Bitcoin [BTC] Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs), Inflows reached $202.6 million as of the 26th of August, according to Farside Investors.

Despite this positive momentum in the ETF market, BTC itself was struggling to surpass the $65,000 threshold, trading at $62,898 after a 1.11% decline in the past 24 hours, as reported by CoinMarketCap.

What’s at play?

This discrepancy highlights a broader confusion among investors regarding the interplay between central bank interest-rate policies and their impact on the valuation of risk assets such as cryptocurrencies and stocks.

Highlighting the interplay in the crypto market, a recent report published on 26th August by CoinShares titled — Digital Asset Fund Flows suggested, 

“​​Last week, digital asset investment products saw inflows totalling US$533m, marking the largest inflows in five weeks.” 

Source: CoinShares

For context, this recent surge in Bitcoin ETFs came in the wake of Jerome Powell’s comments at the Jackson Hole Symposium, where he hinted at the possibility of an initial interest rate cut in September.

This prospect has sparked a renewed interest in risk assets. Despite a slight dip in trading volumes compared to recent weeks, activity remained robust, with weekly trading reaching $9 billion.

Impact of Fed rate cut on digital assets

The report further stressed on the performance of Bitcoin and noted, 

“Bitcoin was the primary focus, seeing US$543m of inflows, interestingly, the majority of those inflows were on Friday [23rd August], following the dovish comments from Jerome Powell, indicating Bitcoins sensitivity to interest rate expectations.” 

Flow by assets

Source: CoinShares

Needless to say, the report also highlighted Ethereum [ETH] ETFs, noting significant withdrawals from the Grayscale Ethereum Trust.

This saw $118 million in redemptions and contributed to a total of $2.5 billion in outflows over the past month.

ETH ETF

Source: CoinShares

What’s more to it?

Also, Wall Street anticipates a significant reduction in Federal Reserve interest rates from 5.33% to 3.33% over the next 18 months. 

This anticipated easing will lower borrowing costs for households, businesses, and asset managers, leading to increased liquidity and investment opportunities.

As a result, digital assets are expected to see a rise in value, driven by the broader availability of capital. 

Seeing this coming, many institutions have started increasing and are gearing up.

First, BlackRock recently disclosed an updated portfolio for its Strategic Global Bond Fund, revealing an increase in its holdings of iShares Bitcoin Trust shares.

As of the 30th of June, the fund held 16,000 shares, up from 12,000 shares reported in May, indicating growing investment in Bitcoin. 

Thus, it remains to be seen how the Fed’s rate cuts will unfold and significantly impact asset prices.

Next:

Stacks network speeds up with Nakamoto upgrade, unveils sBTC

  • The Nakamoto upgrade is underway on the Stacks network.
  • The upgrade will increase transaction speed and introduce another asset class that allows broader transactions.

Stacks, one of the leading Layer 2 networks on the Bitcoin network, has announced a significant upgrade. This upgrade enhances the network’s speed, making transactions faster and more efficient.

Additionally, the upgrade will introduce a new asset class called sBTC.

Stacks begins Nakamoto upgrade

According to documents from Stacks, the rollout of the Nakamoto upgrade has begun on the network. This upgrade significantly enhances the Stacks blockchain, initiated at Bitcoin block 840,360.

As of this writing, the current Bitcoin block is 858,602, indicating that the Nakamoto upgrade is well underway.

The Nakamoto upgrade aims to significantly improve transaction speeds on the network, reducing settlement times from minutes to seconds. This enhancement is expected to significantly increase the efficiency and usability of the blockchain, making it more appealing for users and developers.

In addition to these improvements, the Nakamoto upgrade will pave the way for introducing sBTC, a new asset class on the network.

The network will launch the new asset four weeks after the upgrade’s implementation. The sBTC is designed to facilitate the seamless transfer of Bitcoin (BTC) between the blockchain and Stacks. It will also be used as gas for transactions on the Stacks network. 

Importantly, sBTC is a decentralized asset backed 1:1 by Bitcoin, ensuring that it retains the value and security associated with BTC while enabling greater functionality within the Stacks ecosystem.

How this upgrade could impact the Stacks and Bitcoin network

Stacks is recognized as the largest Layer 2 network on Bitcoin. It has a Total Value Locked (TVL) of over $99 million, according to data from CoinMarketCap.

This achievement is particularly significant given that Bitcoin was not originally designed as a decentralized finance (DeFi) network. However, Layer 2 solutions like Stacks have innovatively expanded Bitcoin’s capabilities, enabling DeFi activities on the network.

One of the primary challenges faced by Stacks and other Layer 2 networks on Bitcoin has been speed. The Nakamoto upgrade aims to address this issue by significantly enhancing transaction speeds and reducing settlement times from minutes to seconds. This upgrade is expected to improve the Stacks network and have a positive ripple effect on other related networks built on Bitcoin.

As a result of the Nakamoto upgrade, the Bitcoin network is likely to see increased activity, as faster transaction times make it more attractive for various use cases, particularly in DeFi.

This surge in activity could lead to greater demand for Stacks’ native token, STX, as more users engage with the network and its associated services.

How STX has fared in the last 24 hours

Stacks [STX] has recently experienced significant positive momentum, but this trend was briefly interrupted on 26th August. According to AMBCrypto’s analysis of its daily chart, STX saw a decline of over 4%.

The decline caused its price to drop from around $1.83 to approximately $1.76. Despite this pullback, STX quickly regained some ground, with its price rising by over 1% as of this writing, bringing it to around $1.77.

Source: TradingView

Realistic or not, here’s STX’s market cap in BTC’s terms

Importantly, the decline on 26th August did not disrupt STX’s overall bullish trend. The Relative Strength Index (RSI) remains around 60, signaling that the asset is still bullish.

The RSI level suggests that despite a brief correction, the broader positive sentiment and buying pressure for STX continue to support its upward trajectory.

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