New Wave

The New Wave is a prototype pinball machine created by NSM/LÖWEN of Bingen, Germany, but it was never put into production - the game is known only from a single promotional photograph, part of a discarded ring binder of information from LÖWEN's Munich distribution center. Despite the NSM branding on the coin door, the cardholder and playfield near the left pop bumper display the Bell Games logo, and this prototype should not be confused with the similarly named Bell Games' 1985 "New Wave," a separate, released machine.

The promotional caption touted the game as "the world premiere of the NSM pinball machine," highlighting its "state-of-the-art 16-bit technology, used for the first time in pinball construction" and a rustproof metal universal housing intended to be reused for future NSM game systems. It also promised animated text overlaid on the displays during play.

Design-wise, the prototype's music-themed, four-player playfield included two flippers, two pop bumpers, two slingshots, a 3-in-line drop target bank, four standup targets, two star rollovers, a swinging target, and a right outlane detour gate, all housed in a metal cabinet. As a machine that never reached the market, the New Wave survives today only as a photographic record of an abandoned project rather than a playable artifact.