Spidey Fights the Bad Guys; Golden Tee Goes Unplugged

Spider-Man Spins Web of Excitement
    A game released earlier this year really has patrons climbing the walls.
    As we reported this summer, Stern Pinball’s newest installment in its Spider-Man pinball game series was designed by Steve Ritchie, Lyman Sheats and the engineering staff at Stern Pinball. The pinball machine takes Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2 and Spider-Man 3 and puts them all into one fast-paced pinball machine.
    In the Spider-Man pinball machine, you are Spider-Man. Your goal is to defeat the villains from all three movies: Green Goblin, Doc Ock, Sandman and Venom. Detailed, vibrant toys of each of the four villains are on the playfield with an associated shot. Players must defeat all four villains to experience Battle Royale.
    Some of the fun features of the game include Doc Ock’s magnet that simulates a “Fusion Malfunction” by holding the ball; Green Goblin hovering on his glider above Pumpkin Bomb targets; Venom’s ramp that quickly feeds the ball back to the left flipper; Sandman’s whirlwind of targets and a motor 3-bank at the center of the playfield; and more.
    Kevin O’Conner utilized the film’s art resources and created the back glass and playfield art, while Marc Shoenberg and Mark Galvez also worked with the film’s art direction staff to produce the cabinet art. The pinball machine has a music and sound package, along with more than 800 speech calls.

Golden Tee Updates and Developments
    Incredibile Technologies introduced Golden Tee LIVE in 2005 with the goal of  releasing the most sophisticated coin-operated video game of its kind. But, the company says, with that sophistication came a price. 
    While the goal was to reach the largest audience possible, the initial expense of the game and feature set best served mid- to high-traffic locations. LIVE wasn’t always a practical choice for all the locations that Golden Tee Fore! had penetrated. Now, IT has expanded the Golden Tee line and operators have choices again.
    The new Golden Tee Unplugged 2008 has almost everything that LIVE provides except the wireless cellular connection. This stand-alone offline game is available as a kit or dedicated unit. Similar to LIVE, it features 15 courses, including five new courses for 2008. Unplugged generates no ITNet fees, and since it’s offline there are no cellular connection charges.
    Because there are no online contests, the dedicated unit’s upper monitor (which displays the results of those contests) has been eliminated. There is no card reader.  The Unplugged cabinet looks very similar in style to Silver Strike Bowling or Target Toss Pro: Bags and distinguishes itself from Golden Tee LIVE with an all-new color scheme and marquee. 
    The flat panel monitor on a dedicated Unplugged unit renders a crystal-clear image for the player, but the graphics also look great on the existing hi-res monitors already in the field. 
    Factory default pricing for 18 holes of Golden Tee Unplugged is $1-3 less than LIVE.  The level of difficulty is described as “casual,” meaning that game play is a bit easier than LIVE but is still fun and challenging.
    User payment is by cash only.
    Players will have the option to customize their on-screen golfer, but not to the same extent as with LIVE. They also will have the option to select Top Flite balls and clubs.