Pinfest is This Weekend; Pokémon is Hot; Even More Rumors

The silence is deafening. We need some pinball and arcade news! lol. It pains me not to write, so I'm not going to let a week go by without talking...

Highlights

• Pokémon is now the fastest-selling pinball machine in Stern Pinball's history
• Pokémon is earning 2.5x more than other pinball machines on location, making it the highest-returning pinball machine of the last 25 years
• All initial production of Pokémon is sold out
• Pokémon has not yet received licensor approval for achievements or Pokédex features
• George Gomez indicated an announcement from Stern is coming 'very soon'
• Barrels of Fun has secured the license for SpongeBob SquarePants
• A completely new pinball company may reveal a game at Golden State Pinball Festival (May 15-17)
• Pinball Brothers has the license for The Fifth Element (1997 film)
• Stern may make a new Lord of the Rings pinball machine (not a remaster of the 2003 game)
• Stern Pinball has held the Journey license for a while but has not yet acted on it

Notable quotes

Entities

• Barrels of Fun· company
• Pinball Brothers· company
• PinballSTAR Amusements· company
• Spooky Pinball· company
• Stern Pinball· company
• Turner Pinball· company
• Golden State Pinball Festival· event
• Midwest Gaming Classic· event
• Pinfest· event
• Pintastic New England· event
• Demo Man· game
• Dune· game
• Godzilla· game
• Merlin's Arcade· game
• Pokémon· game
• George Gomez· person
• Jason Knapp· person
• Keith Elwin· person