The next wave of home arcade excitement is coming next year.
Amid rumblings that a number of new players will soon enter a category dominated by names like Arcade1Up and AtGames comes the official launch of Wonderland Amusements.
The new company, which debuted at this year’s Pinball Expo in Chicago, says it’s on a mission “to bring the joy of real mechanical pinball machines to home arcades with a new line of compact, affordable tables.”
Alice Goes to Wonderland is the first machine in development, and today the team shared a new video from a recent trip to its overseas manufacturing partner. Wonderland Amusements plans to offer the real pinball experience by selling tables for under $1,000. See the early prototype below.
When the arcade resurgence and home arcade movement began in 2018, video game cabinets were followed by virtual pinball machines that replaced the mechanical playfield with a digital screen paired with haptic feedback effects. Currently, most full size mechanical machines — including the home versions offered at retailers such as Costco — start around $5,000, thus pricing out the average consumer. Wonderland says its tables are around 80% scale.
The team behind Wonderland Amusements includes Jerry Cummings, Gary Monaco, Andres Quiros, Peter Gould, and Adwood Tang — industry veterans with experience spanning Arcade1Up, New Wave Toys, ThinkUp, Hasbro, Mattel, and others.
Carlos Mendoza III, formerly of Spirit Halloween, is developing the artwork for Alice Goes to Wonderland.
Additional updates will be shared at wonderlandamusements.com.
