 Jim Belsito, Tony Moore and Tom Neighbors Share Spotlight at 2006 Video Game & Pinball Masters Tournament
Las Vegas, NV -- April 30, 2006 -- At first he wasn't going to go, but his friend, Paul Dean, a video game champion for more than 20 years, urged him to tag along and face the three-hour drive to Las Vegas. They were going to the newly-created Pinball Hall of Fame in Las Vegas and Jim Belsito, of Rialto, California, would end up being the big winner, capturing three listings in the forthcoming Guinness World Records(tm) 2007 Book.
But Belsito was not the only winner. Tony Moore and Tom Neighbors -- both of Las Vegas -- each captured two titles, while the three remaining games were split at one each by other players. Among the winners were Brian Weilbacher, Las Vegas, NV, Tony Moore, Las Vegas, NV, Craig Sengstock, Henderson, NV, Tom Neighbors, Las Vegas, NV and Michael Frankovich, Pasadena, Calif.. With 30 contestants in tow, the event ushered in a new era of pinball competition: high-scores for the Guinness World Records Book -- the first recognition Guinness World Records has offered to pinball in its 52 years of publishing.
(Note: Jim Belsito is ranked 6th in the entire world among pinball players by the newly-resurrected International Flipper Pinball Association (IFPA).)
The Event
At 12:35 PM on Friday, April 28th, the contest began with John Russo of Bradenton, FL scoring 72,360 points on Gottlieb’s Lawman, a hit pinball from 1971. This was but the beginning of a very long weekend, a weekend that would see approximately 2,000 pinball games played during the 2006 Video Game & Pinball Masters Tournament, the official pinball contest recognized by the Guinness World Records 2007 Book.
And, the Pinball Hall of Fame is the official home for this event, tentatively planned for two annual editions, probably Spring and Fall. But what makes this contest extra special is the fact that everybody has to play the same exact machines year after year. In other words, the exact Lawman machine that was used in this contest will be used in all future years, and so on...
The ten games, chosen by Tim Arnold, founder and director of the Pinball Hall of Fame in Las Vegas, were selected to represent many eras of pinball evolution, from the electro-mechanical Lawman manufactured in 1971, to the software-driven South Park put out by SEGA in 1998. Each of the ten games was placed on difficulty settings selected by Tim Arnold for the event. The machines were worked on for weeks prior to the event so that they would be as close as possible to "perfect" condition." See News Release about the rules and game settings.
Though it was billed as a "Video Game & Pinball Masters Tournament," the players in attendance were primarily focused on pinball with little interest directed towards the dozen video games on location. However, of special note is the enthusiasm displayed for the older coin-op novelty games that pre-dated the video game era. Titles like Ambush, Twin Rifle, Funland, Road Runner and Speed Way attracted lots of play and recorded their first world records for Twin Galaxies' Official Video Game & Pinball Book of World Records.
The contest attendees proved to be a very creative lot. John Russo, of Bradenton, FL owns one of the nation's most well-known Classic Arcade Showrooms -- Apollo Amusements -- which sells vintage coin-op games to the public. Plus, Tony Moore, winner on South Park and Taxi, is a Marine Biologist in charge of the Aquarium at the Mirage Casino. In the same vein, Danny Carranza (3rd place on Taxi) works as a poker dealer at Binion's Horseshoe Club, while John Rhodes is in his 21st year as a Las Vegas dealer, having worked at numerous casinos during his career. And, the husband-wife pinball team of Jonathan and Joanne Bradley both work in cashier cages at rival casinos. And, Richard Jenkins is a NAMCO employee in charge of NAMCO's route of coin-operated amusement devices located throughout the greater Las Vegas area. And, Craig Sengstock drives one of those monstrously long stretch limos as his day (or night) job.
On Sunday, Guinness World Records sent a photographer to snap pictures of games and players, plus close-ups of the final champions holding their awards certificiates while posing in front of the game titles they conquered. Based on our best information, there will be a photograph of this event published in the Guinness World Records 2007 Book.
The awards certificates, issued by Twin Galaxies, displayed text similar to this example taken from the Kings and Queens Certificate:
"It is Proclaimed that this gamer will be submitted to Guinness World
Records™
for achieving a new world record on the pinball edition of Kings
& Queens during the
2006 Video Game & Pinball Masters Tournament event at The Pinball Hall
of Fameas
verified by Walter Day in Las
Vegas, NV, on April 28, 2006"
The deadline for the Guinness World Records Book has now passed and the scores are safely in the hands of the Guinness editors. However, there are already plans in the making for the next edition of this event, for next year's Guinness World Records Book. And, on top of that, Twin Galaxies hopes to stage later this year an Arcade Novelty World Championship at the Pinball Hall of Fame that features contest play on pre-video coin-op games from the 1950-1972 era.
Th entire staff of Twin Galaxies and the participating players in the contest extend their sincere thanks to Tim and Charlotte Arnold and Airman First Class Hippie for welcoming this event to the Pinball Hall of Fame and for keeping these ancient games in running condition. We hope all the pinball hobby's top players have a chance to go to the Pinball Hall of Fame to see the world's largest collection of games made available for public play.
Addams Family
Serial #20017-590681
Software: Version P-2
Mode: Tournament
Difficulty: Factory Difficulty
Start: 3 balls to start
Bonus: Extra balls received
Playing conditions: Weak upper right flipper
|
1,591,573,470 Jim Belsito, Rialto, CA
295,524,850 Tom Neighbors, Las Vegas, NV
250,628,250 Allan Desmond, Las Vegas, NV
176,609,330 Shawn Cram, W. Lebanon, ME
111,000,000 Douglas Kohl, Las Vegas, NV
57,153,770 David Elliott, Las Vegas, NV
50,146,370 John Matthews, Las Vegas, NV
40,622,910 Christopher Appellof, Las Vegas | | x |
| Captain Fantastic
Serial #13428
Software: None
Mode: Factory
Difficulty: Factory Difficulty
Start: 3 balls to start
Bonus: No extra balls received
Playing conditions: No problems
| Captain Fantastic
Scores: 245,240 Tom Neighbors, Las Vegas, NV
217,020 Craig Sengstock, Henderson, NV
169,870 Jonathan Bradley, Las Vegas, NV
166,840 Danny Carranza, Las Vegas, NV
135,470 Jim Belsito, Rialto, CA
135,450 Tony Moore, Las Vegas, NV
130,850 Paul Dean, Riverside, CA
119,690 Perry Rodgers, Redmond, WA
111,590 John Russo, Bradenton, FL
60,120 Dan Reeves, Las Vegas, NV
49,730 John Matthews, Las Vegas, NV
44,380 Christopher Olvera, Las Vegas, NV
28,180 Shawn Cram, W. Lebanon, ME
12,440 Christopher Appellof, Las Vegas
| | x |
| Creature from Black Lagoon
Serial #835280
Software: 20018 Rev. L-2
Mode: Tournament
Difficulty: Hard Difficulty
Start: 3 balls to start
Bonus: No extra balls received
Playing Conditions: Weak right flipper
| Creature Black Lagoon Scores: 1,015,433,710 Jim Belsito, Rialto, CA
327,199,770 Richard Jenkins, Las Vegas, NV
264,084,250 Douglas Kohl, Las Vegas, NV
146,328,850 Christopher Olvera, Las Vegas, NV
107,022,830 Christian F. Cram, W. Lebanon, ME
99,516,050 David Elliott, Las Vegas, NV
94,069,400 Jonathan Bradley, Las Vegas, NV
75,983,310 John Matthews, Las Vegas, NV
55,178,500 Christopher Appellof, Las Vegas
39,959,340 Tony Moore, Las Vegas, NV
38,874,200 Rudy Ferretti, Las Vegas, NV | | x |
| Kings & Queens
Serial #05376
Software: None
Mode: Factory
Difficulty: Factory Difficulty
Start: 5 balls to start
Bonus: No extra balls received
Playing conditions: No problems
| Kings and Queens Scores
2,243 Michael Frankovich, Pasadena, CA
2,052 John Rhodes, Henderson, NV
1,956 Jonathan Bradley, Las Vegas, NV
1,904 Shawn Cram, W. Lebanon, ME
1,714 Tom Neighbors, Las Vegas, NV
1,611 Perry Rodgers, Redmond, WA
1,605 Tony Moore, Las Vegas, NV
1,223 Christian F. Cram, W. Lebanon, ME
766 Christopher Appellof, Las Vegas
693 John Matthews, Las Vegas, NV
567 John Russo, Bradenton, FL
468 Douglas Kohl, Las Vegas, NV | | x |
| Lawman
Serial #7522
Software: None
Mode: Factory
Difficulty: Factory Difficulty
Start: 3 balls to start
Bonus: No extra balls received
Playing conditions: Problems were fixed
| Lawman Scores
159,530 Brian Weilbacher, Las Vegas, NV
114,280 Jonathan Bradley, Las Vegas, NV
101,200 John Russo, Bradenton, FL
100,330 Tony Moore, Las Vegas, NV
99,980 John Rhodes, Henderson, NV
95,990 Shawn Cram, W. Lebanon, ME
95,710 Perry Rodgers, Redmond, WA
92,010 Joanne Bradley, Las Vegas, NV
88,260 Tom Neighbors, Las Vegas, NV
65,690 Paul Dean, Riverside, CA
58,830 Michael Frankovich, Pasadena, CA
32,940 Christopher Appellof, Las Vegas
25,060 John Matthews, Las Vegas, NV | | x |
| Scared Stiff
Serial #51048103373
Software: (To Be Verified)
Mode: Tournament
Difficulty: Factory Difficulty
Start: 3 balls to start
Bonus: Extra balls received
Playing conditions: ??
|
Scared Stiff Scores
69,895,370 Craig Sengstock, Henderson, NV
51,045,910 Jim Belsito, Rialto, CA
38,626,460 Tony Moore, Las Vegas, NV
11,446,120 David Elliott, Las Vegas, NV
9,530,420 Douglas Kohl, Las Vegas, NV
6,921,860 Shawn Cram, W. Lebanon, ME
2,549,920 John Matthews, Las Vegas, NV
1,018,670 Christopher Appellof, Las Vegas | | x |
| South Park
Serial #E-148449
Software: (Version A101)
Mode: Tournament
Difficulty: Hard Difficulty
Start: 3 balls to start
Bonus: No extra balls received
Playing conditions: No problems
|
South Park Scores:
456,968,070 Tony Moore, Las Vegas, NV
216,254,890 Jim Belsito, Rialto, CA
187,244,500 Perry Rodgers, Redmond, WA
82,622,680 Christian F. Cram, W. Lebanon, ME
72,389,770 Shawn Cram, W. Lebanon, ME
46,097,150 David Elliott, Las Vegas, NV
34,084,160 John Matthews, Las Vegas, NV
11,652,860 Christopher Appellof, Las Vegas | | x |
| Taxi
Serial #
Software: (To be verified)
Mode: Tournament
Difficulty: Factory Difficulty
Start: 5 balls to start
Bonus: Extra balls received
Playing Conditions: Ramp generated extra points.
|
Taxi Scores:
19,507,390 Tony Moore, Las Vegas, NV
12,213,370 Tom Neighbors, Las Vegas, NV
9,346,850 Danny Carranza, Las Vegas, NV
6,345,400 Christopher Olvera, Las Vegas, NV
5,495,620 Cayle George, Madison, WI
4,810,850 Dan Reeves, Las Vegas, NV
2,579,800 John Matthews, Las Vegas, NV
2,119,900 Christian F. Cram, W. Lebanon, ME
1,675,570 Douglas Kohl, Las Vegas, NV
1,345,700 Christopher Appellof, Las Vegas | | x |
| Twilight Zone
Serial #183171
Software: (Version L-3)
Mode: Tournament
Difficulty: Factory Difficulty
Start: 3 balls to start
Bonus: Extra balls received
Playing condition: No problems
|
Twilight Zone Scores
1,726,330,320 Jim Belsito, Rialto, CA
1,445,432,590 Tony Moore, Las Vegas, NV
990,262,580 Richard Jenkins, Las Vegas, NV
688,105,090 Danny Carranza, Las Vegas, NV
314,376,610 David Elliott, Las Vegas, NV
220,099,700 Shawn Cram, W. Lebanon, ME
216,452,540 Dan Reeves, Las Vegas, NV
166,994,670 John Matthews, Las Vegas, NV
75,499,530 Rudy Ferretti, Las Vegas, NV
35,797,990 Christian F. Cram, W. Lebanon, ME
33,612,850 Christopher Appellof, Las Vegas |
|
| Wizard
Serial #11207
Software: None
Mode: Factory
Difficulty: Factory Difficulty
Start: 3 balls to start
Bonus: Extra balls received
Playing Conditions: Windings
removed from the coils increased
difficulty of play
| Wizard Scores
190,240 Tom Neighbors, Las Vegas, NV
181,180 John Russo, Bradenton, FL
163,770 Perry Rodgers, Redmond, WA
160,100 Jonathan Bradley, Las Vegas, NV
149,580 Joanne Bradley, Las Vegas, NV
130,680 Tony Moore, Las Vegas, NV
119,290 John Rhodes, Henderson, NV
113,520 John Matthews, Las Vegas, NV
18,180 Christopher Appellof, Las Vegas |
|