My god, she's alive!
Make me live, make me sing, make me feel like a woman.
The Machine: Bride of Pin*Bot is a pinball game designed by Python Anghelo and John Trudeau. It was released in 1991 by Williams Electronics, and is the sequel to Williams' earlier Pin*Bot.
In the game, the player must assist in the construction of "The Machine", a massive female humanoid robot. The player does this by first shooting a ball into her mouth (enabling her to speak), then shooting two balls into her eye sockets (so she can see). With the Machine complete and fully operational, the job would be done, except an influx of human DNA causes the Bride to undergo an unexpected metamorphosis...
A sequel, Jack*Bot, was released in 1995.
In 2013, Dutch Pinball
released Bride of Pinbot 2.0, a conversion kit for the game. It replaces the innards of the game with a new controller, speaker panel, and dot-matrix display. Players can choose either the original game or "Bride 2.0", which features a deeper ruleset, player profiles, achievements, new sounds and music, and animated effects. A video of the game is available here.
A digital version of Bride of Pin*Bot was available as part of FarSight Studios' The Pinball Arcade collection until their license to all Williams/Bally tables expired on July 1, 2018. Another version has since been released for Zen Studios' Pinball FX in April 2023.
This pinball demonstrates the following tropes:
- Adjustable Censorship: The game includes an option to turn off some of the Machine's more suggestive voice clips.
- Become a Real Woman: The goal of multiball is to help the Bride transform into a human.
- Big Word Shout: One of the astronauts shouts "YAHOO!" whenever you make the 200,000 point skill shot.
- Boring Yet Practical: It is possible to advance the Machine through all her forms, start multiball, activate the Big Wheel repeatedly and earn multiple billion-point rewards by learning little more than two shots: right flipper to shuttle ramp and left flipper to heart ramp.
- One of the loop shots feeds directly to the right inlane. This shot can be made repeatedly from the right flipper for 1,000,000 points each time, and persistent enough players can find themselves completing a 10-loop combo and scoring the Backdoor Billion.
- Cap: The score rolls over to zero upon hitting the 10 billion point threshold.
- Combos
- Computer Voice: Provided by singer Stephanie Rogers, who was previously one of the singers of the theme to Black Knight 2000.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: As the game progresses, the Machine makes remarks like "I feel... strange..." and "Yes! Yes!" In some instances, she just out-and-out moans orgasmically.
- Double Entendre: Done all over the board layout, such as the red flashers on the Machine's breasts, or the "One More Time" extra ball light between her legs.
- Easter Egg: The tradition of hiding cows in pinball games started here, as programmer Brian Eddy likes cows. When a ball starts, leave it in the plunger. Hold the right flipper for at least 45 seconds, then hold the left flipper for at least 45 seconds, then hold both flippers for at least 45 seconds. The game will beep; tap out "Old MacDonald Had a Farm" with the flipper buttons (right flipper first) and the game will display the lyrics in time to the song.
- '80s Hair: After completing the Metamorphosis, the Bride's "human" face shows a glimpse of her curly, blond hair, which is likely modeled in this fashion.
- Everything's Sparkly with Jewelry: Besides the Machine's earrings and large... headpiece... thing, her left hand is posed to show off her wedding ring.
- Eyeless Face: Initially, the Machine has two empty eye sockets on her face.
- Fembot: The Machine is deliberately feminine. Why Pin*Bot wants a bride, and why humans are building one for him, is never really explored.
- Flatline: Used not to show death, but new life: when completing the metamorphosis, the table goes dark and shows a flatline heartbeat monitor on the score display, which then starts jumping as the Machine's heart begins to beat.
- Gimmick Level: The Machine's face changes as you advance in the game, changing the number and types of shots required.
- Golden Snitch/Pinball Scoring: Shooting both balls onto the Bride's face during her human form spins the Big Wheel, and one of the prizes is the chance for a billion-point shot... in a game that typically scores in the millions. The game even maintains a separate "Billionaires' Club" high score table to segregate players who made the shot from those who didn't.
- Humanity Ensues: The Machine's metamorphosis.Military General: My God! She's alive!
- Humongous Mecha: As shown on the game art, the Machine dwarfs the workers building her.
- Leg Focus: The Machine is prominently displaying her legs on by stretching them over the backglass.
- Level Grinding: The Backdoor Billion requires at least 49 combo shots * .
- Also applies in order to activate extra balls; it takes at least thirteen shots outside of multiball just to turn an Extra Ball light on.
- Love at First Sight: Well, one assumes...Pin*Bot: [when the Machine's optics are enabled] HOW DO I LOOK?The Machine: You look good.
- Machine Monotone: Pin*Bot uses the same type vocal synthesizer used in the original game and its appearance in Taxi.
- Never Trust a Title: Except for the title, no one ever refers to the Machine as the "Bride".
- Non-Mammal Mammaries: As part of her Fem Bot design, the Machine has an impressive shelf.
- Oh, Crap!: Not necessarily politically correct, but...The Machine: I can speak!Pin*Bot: OH, NO.[The Machine laughs]
- Also happens when the Machine begins her metamorphosis.
The Machine: I feel... strange.
Pinbot: THIS DOES NOT COMPUTE.
Technician: WHAT'S HAPPENING?! - 1-Up: Although extra balls can be awarded randomly by the Small Wheel shot, earning extra balls with regularity requires at least thirteen non-multiball shots to the left ramp just to turn on an Extra Ball light in the inlanes and outlanes. Rolling over the lit switch rewards it.
- Ready for Lovemaking: The Machine takes this pose on the cabinet side art.
- Score Multiplier: The Skill Shot multiplier increases each time a ball is fed back to the plunger; the multiplier only resets to 1x if a player doesn't see "Same Builder Shoot Again" on the score display after a drain.
- Sex Bot: The Machine. Not that she seems to mind.
- Signature Line: "My God! She's alive!"
- Skill Shot: Launched balls go into one of five slots. The highest base value (200,000 points) is right in front of the lowest base value (25,000), so a slight over-calculation on the plunge yields the lowest bonus.
- Unstable Genetic Code: Presumably this is what causes the Machine to revert to her robot form.The Machine: I'm turning back!
- What the Hell, Player?: Get a bit too aggressive with jostling the table, the Bride sternly says, "Watch it!"
Bride of Pinbot 2.0 demonstrates the following tropes:
- Anti-Frustration Features: Unlike the original code, there are ball savers by default.
- Combos: After reaching Super Jackpot in multiball, locks are on a very short timer, practically requiring the player to combo the center ramp into the left one.
- The 50 Million mode challenges the player to perform 3-Way Combos on the Heartbeat Ramp, the left loop, and the right loop in quick succession.
- Pinball Scoring: Largely averted and scoring in general is balanced. Rumor has it that a
Nintendo Hard Wizard Mode must be completed to get the billion points on the big wheel. - Retraux: An emulation of the original code can be played as well, and the DMD will simulate an alphanumeric display while doing so.
- Shout-Out:
- The "Move Your Shuttle" mode.
- To the late Python Anghelo. So much so that Dutch named a mode, Planet Pythonia, after him.
- The Special mode is a callback to Jack*Bot, with Pin*Bot controlling the slot machine reels.
- Skill Shot: Lights will strobe over the skill shot holes, and it will stop once the ball is plunged. If the ball lands in the hole the light is over, it will be a Super Skill Shot and five times its base value will be awarded.
- Stuff Blowing Up: Notably in the animations during normal gameplay and certain modes.
- Video Mode: Spell Pin*Bot when locks aren't ready to light it at the scoop. Once activated, control the vehicle on a grid and make it go across the finish line, collecting coins along the way.
- Wizard Mode: Two of them.
- Metamorphosis Multiball: Complete both "phases" of multiball (getting the shuttle to Planet Pin*Bot, followed by completely activating the Bride), then advance her heartbeat to maximum to achieve this. This is a timed multiball frenzy with all major shots lit for Jackpots, depending on how many balls are in play.
- Big Wheel Billion: All other wheel modes must be played first, including the other 5 Big Wheel modes and any 6 Small Wheel modes. There is a 60 second timer where one must make each shot twice (appearing in sets, one shot for each slot on the wheel). The heartbeat ramp is always last when the second set lights. The heart beating in the background intensifies this experience.
