High scores on the Foo Fighters pinball machine have Edmonton player Dave Formenti at a high level.
He first started playing pinball as a teenager.
“I remember the local fish and chip shop had a pinball machine,” he said. “I'll put in 20 cents and play a game.”
He said it was the randomness of the game that attracted him.
“The ball has a mind of its own and you try to control it,” Dave said. I think that's fascinating.”
Over the past four or five years, Dave and his wife Kim can often be found playing pinball at the Sherbrooke pub.
“That's our business,” Kim Formenti said. It may not be for everyone but that's what we do.”
Kim and Dave Formenti play pinball at Sherbrooke Pub. (Amanda Anderson/CTV News Edmonton)
They went there over Easter weekend to play a few games on the Foo Fighters pinball machine.
“It's fast. It's a triple flip game with lots of ramps and a very fun code to try and complete,” says Dave. “An extremely challenging game with a great soundtrack and lots of fun.”
Foo Fighters pinball machine at Sherbrooke Pub. (Amanda Anderson/CTV News Edmonton)
It's a machine that Dave has played at least 100 times in the past year. Immediately after that two-player game, he earned another ball.
“At first it was like, 'Oh, he's got more balls. He's going to keep going. I'm on the phone a little bit. It's going to be a while before I get my turn,'” Kim joked.
She said 20 minutes later Dave was still playing.
“I said, 'Okay, I better pay attention here.' We have never gone that far and sometimes he looks at me to signal him,” Kim said.
Foo Fighters pinball machine at Sherbrooke Pub. (Amanda Anderson/CTV News Edmonton)
“You have to be very strategic about your gameplay and completing your modes to progress in the game,” says Dave.
He added: “The big points come from the final battle. So if you can progress in the game and get to that final battle then you will have huge points.”
Dave has completed all the modes needed to finish the game – the screen shows then rolls the end-game credits.
“It shows all the characters in the game as it goes by,” Dave said. It runs across an old black-and-white movie script showing Jack Danger's name as the credits roll at the end of that game.”
“Then a little rewind icon pops up and the movie is pulled back and everything goes back to the beginning and you start the game again,” he added.
“I told my wife we wanted to see this movie because we would never see it again.”
“We sat there together in amazement,” Kim said. We kind of got lost in the moment and the excitement of it all.”
Foo Fighters pinball machine at Sherbrooke Pub. (Amanda Anderson/CTV News Edmonton)
Dave earned five extra balls in his game. He said he still had two left to play after the game reset. His entire game took about 40 minutes.
“It generated a score of 6.2 billion points which I have never achieved before, not even a little bit close to that number,” Dave said.
“I've seen him hit 1.4, 1.6 but I've never seen him hit that high,” Kim said.
Dave Formenti's high score on the Foo Fighters pinball machine at Sherbrooke Pub. (Amanda Anderson/CTV News Edmonton)
“It was extremely difficult,” said Jason Zazula, another local pinball player.
Zazula has been competing for over a decade and has been competing for about nine years.
He bought his own Foo Fighters machine in August and plays it at least six times a day.
“I haven't even made $1 billion yet, but Dave has made $6 billion,” he said.
“Doing that on a game that's not in your house, where you can just take off your glasses and cheat is a huge feat,” he added.
Zazula posted a photo of Dave scoring high on a social media site for fans and collectors of the machine.
One of the comments came from 'Dead Flip Pinball Streaming' – a site run by Jack Danger.
“He is the main game designer of Foo Fighters. He admitted that the score was a huge WTF, literally blown away,” Dave said proudly.
It was a thank you that Dave said made him feel special.
Dave Formenti plays the Foo Fighters pinball machine at Sherbrooke Pub. (Amanda Anderson/CTV News Edmonton)
“It was a special match. It happened once, it will probably never happen again but I am extremely grateful that people have acknowledged that it was something a bit special,” he said.
