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DUNE REVEAL: PART ONE
Pinball News
In an increasingly competitive market and at a time of year with several big-hitting games expected to be launched, pinball manufacturers are look at new ways to lock in buyers’ money for their games as early as possible.
Following a number of high-profile company failures, and with concern over medium-to-long-term resale values holding up, buyers are understandably reluctant to pay significant sums up-front. But with manufacturers needing reliable indicators of their likely sales and keen to get buyers locked-into buying their game, a middle-ground has opened up in the form of the ‘non-refundable deposit’.
Getting buyers to commit to a deposit which is large enough to dissuade all but the most desperate buyers from dropping out seems to have become a mutually acceptable compromise.
While certain companies don’t reveal their latest title until they have games ready to ship, other manufacturers routinely open up pre-orders through their distributors – complete with those non-refundable deposits – months (or even years) before they are in a position to ship their new game. Sometimes they have sample games to show, other times not even that much.
While some manufacturers got to reveal their latest releases in time for the Texas Pinball Festival in March, other companies bided their time and looked for other ways to get buyers to commit.
Barrels of Fun today began the first phase of the reveal of their second game, Dune, based on the 2021 and 2024 movies from Legendary Entertainment.
The Dune backglass
The company is making a two-stage reveal, with the game’s cosmetics being shown first along with distributors opening up those non-refundable deposits, followed by details of the playfield mechanisms, gameplay and feature-set a day later.
Pinball News has already seen and played Dune, but we are constrained by what we can reveal until all the details are officially announced by Barrels of Fun.
There is just one model of the Dune game which, the company says, includes multiple high-end upgrades, including a bespoke hammered finish to the cabinet metalwork, anti-reflective glass, high-gloss cabinet decals, internal art blades, a real backglass, a shaker motor, an illuminated topper, and the company’s new Horizon Atmospheric Lighting system inside the cabinet. There is also full RGBW general illumination which is used to change the playfield’s appearance as the game progresses, while the speakers come with RGB peripheral lighting.
Dune also includes the same 14.9″ ultra-wide LCD on the back panel first seen in Labyrinth, and a 15.6″ LCD between the backbox speakers.
Here’s how the game looks from the outside.
The left side of the cabinet
The front of the cabinet
The right side of the cabinet
The special treatment on the metal cabinet parts
The treatment extends to the speaker/display panel
The playfield features three flippers – two in the usual place and one mid-way up on the centre-left.
The Dune playfield
Probably the main toy is the Sand-worm which is summoned with a Thumper device. The Sand-worm has multiple capabilities in the game. It can grab the ball, rise up, and also swallow the ball, dropping it into a subway system. It’s an impressive mechanism, both above and below the playfield.
The Sand-worm is one way to lock balls for multiball, but the game also has a dedicated lock area on the mid-right where two pins rise to trap the ball which can then be shot to release it back into play. There is another lock area at the back left corner, more details of which will be revealed shortly.
The game has opened up for distributor orders with a full recommended retail price of $11,600. A $2,000 non-refundable deposit is needed now to lock in your order.
These are the game’s features being announced in this first phase of the launch:
Much more will be revealed about Barrels of Fun’s new Dune game later today when we will be able to bring you high-resolution photos, full details of the gameplay features and much more.
In the meantime, Barrels of Fun has released this teaser video:
Join us here at Pinball News a little later for the second half of the Dune reveal.
Continue reading...
Pinball News
In an increasingly competitive market and at a time of year with several big-hitting games expected to be launched, pinball manufacturers are look at new ways to lock in buyers’ money for their games as early as possible.
Following a number of high-profile company failures, and with concern over medium-to-long-term resale values holding up, buyers are understandably reluctant to pay significant sums up-front. But with manufacturers needing reliable indicators of their likely sales and keen to get buyers locked-into buying their game, a middle-ground has opened up in the form of the ‘non-refundable deposit’.
Getting buyers to commit to a deposit which is large enough to dissuade all but the most desperate buyers from dropping out seems to have become a mutually acceptable compromise.
While certain companies don’t reveal their latest title until they have games ready to ship, other manufacturers routinely open up pre-orders through their distributors – complete with those non-refundable deposits – months (or even years) before they are in a position to ship their new game. Sometimes they have sample games to show, other times not even that much.
While some manufacturers got to reveal their latest releases in time for the Texas Pinball Festival in March, other companies bided their time and looked for other ways to get buyers to commit.
Barrels of Fun today began the first phase of the reveal of their second game, Dune, based on the 2021 and 2024 movies from Legendary Entertainment.
The Dune backglass
The company is making a two-stage reveal, with the game’s cosmetics being shown first along with distributors opening up those non-refundable deposits, followed by details of the playfield mechanisms, gameplay and feature-set a day later.
Pinball News has already seen and played Dune, but we are constrained by what we can reveal until all the details are officially announced by Barrels of Fun.
There is just one model of the Dune game which, the company says, includes multiple high-end upgrades, including a bespoke hammered finish to the cabinet metalwork, anti-reflective glass, high-gloss cabinet decals, internal art blades, a real backglass, a shaker motor, an illuminated topper, and the company’s new Horizon Atmospheric Lighting system inside the cabinet. There is also full RGBW general illumination which is used to change the playfield’s appearance as the game progresses, while the speakers come with RGB peripheral lighting.
Dune also includes the same 14.9″ ultra-wide LCD on the back panel first seen in Labyrinth, and a 15.6″ LCD between the backbox speakers.
Here’s how the game looks from the outside.
The left side of the cabinet
The front of the cabinet
The right side of the cabinet
The special treatment on the metal cabinet parts
The treatment extends to the speaker/display panel
The playfield features three flippers – two in the usual place and one mid-way up on the centre-left.
The Dune playfield
Probably the main toy is the Sand-worm which is summoned with a Thumper device. The Sand-worm has multiple capabilities in the game. It can grab the ball, rise up, and also swallow the ball, dropping it into a subway system. It’s an impressive mechanism, both above and below the playfield.
The Sand-worm is one way to lock balls for multiball, but the game also has a dedicated lock area on the mid-right where two pins rise to trap the ball which can then be shot to release it back into play. There is another lock area at the back left corner, more details of which will be revealed shortly.
The game has opened up for distributor orders with a full recommended retail price of $11,600. A $2,000 non-refundable deposit is needed now to lock in your order.
These are the game’s features being announced in this first phase of the launch:
| • 3 Flippers, 6 Balls • Horizon Atmospheric Lighting (HAL): • An All-New RGB LED Low-Profile Inner Cabinet Lighting System for Arrakis Day / Night Lighting Effects • All-RGBW LED Playfield Insert Lamps & General Illumination Lamps, and Playfield Apron Flood Lights • EverGloss High-Gloss Decal Art with Metallic-Embedded Details • Infinity Glass (Anti-Reflective Glass) • Thunder From Down Under Shaker Motor • Factory-Installed Inner Blade Art • 15.6” HD LCD Display flanked by 5-1/4” Kenwood Full-Range Stereo Speakers with Interactive Full RGB Illumination • JBL STAGE 8” Cabinet Subwoofer • Polyester Metallic Powder Coated Cabinet Armor & Matching Speaker • Panel with Laser-Cut Sandworm Pattern Speaker Grills • 14.9” LCD Backboard Playfield Display for an Expanded Universe Under Glass! |
Much more will be revealed about Barrels of Fun’s new Dune game later today when we will be able to bring you high-resolution photos, full details of the gameplay features and much more.
In the meantime, Barrels of Fun has released this teaser video:
Join us here at Pinball News a little later for the second half of the Dune reveal.
Continue reading...
