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Tales of the Arabian Nights

Pinball published 28 years ago by Williams Electronics Games, Inc.

Listed in MAME

Tales of the Arabian Nights © 1996 Williams Electronics Games, Incorporated.

This John Popadiuk-designed masterpiece brings to life some of the most memorable tales of 1001 Nights as told by the Persian Queen Scheherazade. The setting is ancient Baghdad where wishes can be granted in the ultimate battle to rescue the Princess from the clutches of an evil Genie who taunts all foes. There are jewels to be collected and a playfield that will have players spinning Aladdins Lamp, flying on Magic Carpet ramps or visiting the Bazaar for countless awards. With a deep set of rules, beautiful artwork, engaging voice over, and excellent sound effects, this is one of the most popular and highest rated table of all times.

Goodies for Tales of the Arabian Nights
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TECHNICAL/MACHINE PICT.
1

Williams WPC-95
Model Number: 50047

Main CPU : Motorola M6809 (@ 2 Mhz)
Sound CPU : ADSP2105 (@ 10 Mhz)
Sound Chips : DMA-driven DAC

TRIVIA

Tales of the Arabian Nights was released in May 1996. 3,128 units of this table were produced.

Stuff on the Backglass:
* Fullers II: at the bow of the sailing ship. Fullers II is a bar on the northwest side of Chicago.
* Karen LK Jack: at both sides of the bow of the sloop. Karen & Jack are the names on the dingy, they both bartend at Fullers II.
* Ketch u at Scotty's: on the beaker in the Sultans hand. Refers to Scott Ketchum. He used to run Scotty's bar on Long Lake near Hayward in northwest Wisconsin.
* Freddy Jones: on the water pipe. Backglass artist Pat McMahon is a fan of theFreddy Jones Band, a local Chicago band
that has had some moderate success in the US.
* Bennet s: on one of the pots of gold just below the hero. Refers to Bennet Snyder, a plant worker who had more than just a passing interest in belly dancers. He provided artist Pat McMahon with photos to aid in the costuming of the female figures.
* Maxi: on the other pot of gold. Actually just 'Max', artist Pat McMahon's nickname since grammer school.
* DZ: on the stirrup on the horse. Dave Zabriski, responsible for the music.
* JP: on the horses' harness. John Papadiuk, game designer.
* J: on the thiefs' jacket. J was the initial of the guy that artist Pat McMahon patterned the face after.

Stuff on the Playfield:
* taaSuts (?): on the dagger on the ramp diverter plastic. Pat McMahon: "Think I misspelled this one. My spelling checker suggest tarsus, but Iconsider a reference to a birds bone unlikely".
* Imax/Wade: on the Playfield at the base of the sword blade. Imax is actually just Max (Pat's nickname again). Pat McMahon: "I'm driving myself nuts trying to remember what, or who the hell Wade is".
* H.W. - the ball is wild: at the exit of the Jet return lane. A quote from Harry Williams.
* wade: near the head of the tiger in the loop. Wade is Wade Domet, a friend/mentor of John's from Toronto. Wade was on the WCS94 backglass, he's shooting the ball in the net.
* DOHO: to the left of the right slingshot.
* zab: to the right of the left slingshot. Refers to Dave Zabriski.
* Pop 2nd: under the right slingshot. This one together with...
* Duke lnk: under the left slingshot could make Popadiuk.

Goodies for Tales of the Arabian Nights
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UPDATES

REVISION 1.0 (changes from prototype 0.4) :
Date : May 20, 1996
- Initial release to production.
- Added many new display,lamp, and sound effects.
- Added switch compensation for major playfield features.
- Added German, French, and Spanish translations.
- Added Harem Bonus award to the center eject.
- Added Super Skill Shot to the ramp.
- Added Secret Ball Lock
- Added Final Battle.
- Added Match effect.
- Added player-selectable tournament mode.
- Fireball now counts down correctly below 100,000.
- Enhanced logic for broken Shooting star optos.
- Lock 2 switch was sometimes incorrectly being reported as bad.
- Skill shot changed to hit the snake instead of avoid him.
- Lamp Bonus values above 1,000,000 are displayed correctly.
- Dimira's Magic Amulet added to game rules.
- Special becomes lit when all tales are completed.
- Improved logic on ramp magnet.
- Ball search properly works the vanishing ball mechanism.
- Skill shot fixed for >100 Million scores.
- Tales are suspended during Harem Multiball.

REVISION 1.1
Date : May 23, 1996
- Fixed replay levels can now be turned OFF.
- Additional support for Add-a-ball and Novelty presets.
- Some extra Spanish translations added.
- Adjustment A2.26 restored to Feature Adjustments.

REVISION 1.2
Date : June 11, 1996
- Enhanced ball search at Game Over and after Genie Battle.
- Ball Lock logic improved for missed balls.
- Fireball grace period award fixed.
- More speech added to game start.
- Multiball lamp effects improved when awarded from the Bazaar.
- Bazaar 'Lite Special' actually lights special now.
- Corrected GENIE spellout lamps after Genie Battle.
- Skill Shot display glitch in multiplayer games corrected.
- Announcer speech fixed when locking a ball after Extra Ball.
- Improved stuck/broken switch compensation for ramp magnet and lock magnet.

REVISION 1.3
Date : July 19, 1996
- Default High Scores can now be set up to 25 million.
- Raised German factory-setting high scores.
- Enhanced Secret Ball Lock logic for multiple-player games.
- Improvements to Genie Test and broken vanish mech diagnostics.
- Minor adjustments to some display effects.
- Corrected announcer speech when the last jewel is collected.

REVISION 1.4
Date : October 15, 1996
- Added adjustment A2.27 (MAGNET THROW). This adjustment can be used to strengthen the magnet power when the game tries to throw the ball off of the magnet at a Tale start.
- Fixed a bug in Final Battle when a tilt occurs.
- Balls are returned to the shooter faster in Final Battle.
- Improved diverter rules between Harem Multiball and Rocs mode.
- Slight improvements to speech.
- Timing to the jet bumper post improved to help jet bumper action.

TIPS AND TRICKS

When you get Bazaar awards, quickly hit both flippers. Do this for 3 awards and the 4th award will be a cow worth 1M.

Start the Great Camel Race with Bazaar lit and when you make the first Symbol shot a moo is heard. Now shoot the Bazaar immediately and hit both flippers. There's that cow again!

STAFF

Playfield Concept/Design : John Popadiuk Jr. (POP)
Software/Design : Louis Koziarz (KOZ)
Mechanical Engineering : Jack Skalon (SKA), Ernie Pizarro, Joe Loveday, Butch Ortega
Artwork/Design: Pat McMahon (MAX)
Music/Design: Dr. Dave Zabriskie (ZAB)
Dot Matrix Animation : Adam Rhine, Brian Morris
Special F/X: Dwight Sullivan

Narrated by: Peter Van De Graaff
Voice of The Genie: Tom Uban
Voice of Dimira: Lia Mortensen
Voice of The Princess: Lynn Deasy
Voice of Marvin the Haggler: Louis Koziarz

Extra Special Thanks To: Michelle Popadiuk
Special Thanks To: Karen Chism, Leon Chism

PORTS

CONSOLES:
Xbox 360 [Xbox Live] (apr.04, 2012) "The Pinball Arcade"
Sony PS3 [Sony PSN] (apr.10, 2012) "The Pinball Arcade"

COMPUTERS:
MAC OS [Mac App Store] (2012)

OTHERS:
Apple Store (feb.09, 2012) "The Pinball Arcade"
Android (feb.10, 2012) "The Pinball Arcade"

SOURCES

Game's ROM.