FarSight Studios, creators of Pinball Arcade, is looking for your help to digitize one of the greatest pinball machines of all time: The Twilight Zone. The Twilight Zone table was released by Midway under the Bally label and is currently number one in user rankings on the Internet Pinball Database. Many pinball experts consider it to be the most complex pinball machine ever created, and being able to preserve it in digital form is a dream of FarSight Studios.

FarSight is a gaming developer company known for their popular Pinball Arcade project. FarSight has been developing modern video game recreations of classic pinball tables and bringing them to a variety of platforms including: the iPhone, iPad, Android phones and tables, the Kindle Fire, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PS Vita, and Macintosh, with versions coming soon for the PC, Nintendo 3DS, and Nintendo Wii U.

FarSight is passionate in their ability to create a videogame version that plays exactly the same as the table played when it was new and it’s quite a painstaking process. Developing these exact recreations requires FarSight to obtain all the appropriate licenses from the original manufacturers of the tables as well as any actor likenesses, music compositions, etc.

Obtaining all the appropriate licensing to digitize the Twilight Zone pinball machine is turning out to be quite a daunting and expensive task. This is why FarSight is now reaching out to you (the fans), to help this dream become a reality. Farsight Studios has created a Kickstarter project to help raise the funds needed to obtain all the appropriate licenses and ensure an exact digital recreation of the original for current and future generations to enjoy.

FarSight hopes to raise $55,000 by June 17, and the last time I checked, they were more than halfway there. Various pledge tiers have been created, each with their own special rewards for those who donate.

• PLEDGE $10 OR MORE: Get the Twilight Zone pinball table on a single platform of your choice (except for the Xbox 360- Microsoft won’t let us!) plus the satisfaction of knowing you helped make the preservation of this table possible.
• PLEDGE $25 OR MORE: Everything above PLUS an exclusive Twilight Zone edition virtual pinball (which can be used on any of the tables in the Pinball Arcade!)
• PLEDGE $50 OR MORE – Everything above PLUS an exclusive Twilight Zone Pinball wallpaper for the device of your choice AND an entry into the Pinball Arcade Supporters Tournament!
• PLEDGE $100 OR MORE: Get a special version of the Twilight Zone pinball table with access to the table operator’s menu on every platform (again, except the Xbox 360). You’ll also get an entry into the Pinball Arcade Supporters Tournament!
• PLEDGE $500 OR MORE: Everything above PLUS be a Beta-tester with early access to the table, see your name listed as a supporter in the credits, and get a cool Development Team T-shirt!
• PLEDGE $1,000 OR MORE: Everything above PLUS a copy of Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection signed by the FarSight development team.
• PLEDGE $5,000 OR MORE: Everything above PLUS lunch and one-on-one with the FarSight design team! We’ll give you a tour of our studio in Big Bear Lake, California and you’ll get an inside look at how we digitize pinball tables. We’ll show you what we’re currently working on (and you’ll be among the first outside the studio to play it!) You can also share your thoughts on what we should improve and which tables we should do next. You are responsible for your travel (but lunch is on us!)
• PLEDGE $10,000 OR MORE: The FarSight team will travel to a location of your choosing (within the continental US please, unless you live someplace really cool). We’ll set up and host a virtual pinball tournament for you and your friends complete with goodies and prizes. We’ll also bring along the latest new tables, and you’ll be among the first outside the studio to play them! Your name will also be highlighted in the credits as someone who really made a difference.

Starting a Kickstarter project for in-game content isn’t something you see everyday and is quite a cost effective way for game developers to bring fans the content they want. If you or anyone you know would like to contribute to making this project a reality, follow the links below and be a part of pinball preservation.

• SourceKickstarter
• ViaVentureBeat