Skee-Ball x RepliCade Development Journal

We just finished reviewing the Final Engineering Prototype for Skee-Ball x RepliCade. This is the last major engineering review before we approve the project to move into tooling, and overall the sample looks great and is functioning well.

One of the things we’ve been focused on is making sure the gameplay flow feels like the original Skee-Ball machine, not just making a scaled-down version that looks right.

The electronic scoring is working accurately, and we’re using the original sound effects supplied by the Skee-Ball brand team at Bay-Tek. We still have some programming adjustments to make to the Start Game and End Game sequences so they accurately capture the flow of the original machine.

One detail the programmers absolutely nailed is the idle Attract Mode DMD animation. It’s a small thing, but exactly the kind of detail that helps the machine feel right even when nobody is playing it.

Getting the Mechanical Details Right

Structurally, we’re happy with where the machine is.

We’ve made some adjustments to the leaf-switch levers inside each scoring hole to make sure they register the ball accurately every time. The coin mechanism is also installed and functioning, although we still need to fine-tune it so each coin drop is recorded consistently.

We’re also adjusting the ball feeder. The goal is to make it easy to pull the balls out of the trough without accidentally pushing them back up into the mechanism. These are relatively small changes, but they make a big difference in how natural the machine feels to use.

One Detail We’re Still Working Through

We’ve made our final material selections, although we won’t be able to fully evaluate those until we receive the first samples after tooling.

We are planning to update the rubber mat on the alley to a matte finish material rather than the current gloss finish shown above.  

We’re also still refining the simulated wood texture on the side-wall decals. The current version has too much white highlighting in the woodgrain, so we’re making another adjustment there.

The balls have presented a different challenge.

Our original intention was to give the metal balls a woodgrain finish to more closely match the appearance of the original Skee-Ball balls. Our vendor has determined that a painted finish on the metal balls would begin chipping almost immediately with normal gameplay.

That obviously isn’t acceptable.

We’re continuing to explore other possibilities, but at this point the production direction is stainless-steel balls with a chrome finish, as shown in the FEP photos and video.

Sometimes development comes down to choices like this – balancing the appearance of the original against how the product will actually hold up once people start playing it.

Where Things Stand

With the Final Engineering Prototype review complete, the next major step is tooling.

Our current estimated schedule is:

• Tooling complete: October 1, 2026

• Mass production complete: November 30, 2026

• Estimated arrival in Los Angeles: January 15, 2027

Based on that schedule, final customer delivery is currently looking like it will slip into the beginning of 2027.

We’re continuing to press our vendor partners to see whether there is any opportunity to pull the schedule in and still deliver by the end of 2026, which has been our stated goal for delivering all outstanding products.

But we’re not going to compromise the product to hit that date. Our first priority is making sure the finished Skee-Ball x RepliCade meets the quality standard our customers expect from New Wave.

Video Review

Along with the FEP photos above, we’ve put together a short video showing some of these details up close, along with the machine in action. Check it out below.

As always, thanks for checking out the update and we appreciate your support! 

- The New Wave Team