Pinball games are a family of games in which a ball is propelled into a specially designed table where it bounces off various obstacles, scoring points either en route or when it comes to rest. Historically the board was studded with nails called 'pins' and had hollows or pockets which scored points if the ball came to rest in them. Today, pinball is most commonly an arcade game in which the ball is fired into a specially designed cabinet known as a pinball machine, hitting various lights, bumpers, ramps, and other targets depending on its design. The game's object is generally to score as many points as possible by hitting these targets and making various shots with flippers before the ball is lost. Most pinball machines use one ball per turn, and the game ends when the ball(s) from the last turn are lost. The biggest pinball machine manufacturers historically include Bally Manufacturing, Gottlieb, Williams Electronics and Stern Pinball.
A glossary of terms, commonly used in discussing pinball machines.
Safe Cracker is a pinball machine with a safecracking theme, designed by Pat Lawlor, and distributed by Midway. It was created in 1996. About 1148 were manufactured.
The Addams Family is a pinball machine released in March 1992. It was designed by Pat Lawlor and Larry DeMar and released by Midway. It was based on the 1991 film of the same name, and features custom speech by the stars of the film, Anjelica Huston and Raul Julia. It is the best-selling solid state pinball machine of all time with 20,270 units sold.
Patrick M. Lawlor is a video game and pinball machine designer.
Black Knight is a 1980 pinball machine designed by Steve Ritchie and released by Williams Electronics. Ritchie designed two sequels: Black Knight 2000, released by Williams in 1989, and Black Knight: Sword of Rage, released by Stern Pinball in 2019.
Twilight Zone is a widebody pinball machine, designed by Pat Lawlor and based on the TV series of the same name. It was first released in 1993 by Midway. This game is part of WMS' SuperPin line of widebody games alongside Star Trek: The Next Generation and Indiana Jones: The Pinball Adventure.
High Speed is a pinball game designed by Steve Ritchie and released by Williams Electronics in 1986. It is based on Ritchie's real-life police chase inside a 1979 Porsche 928. He was finally caught in Lodi, California on Interstate 5 and accused of speeding at 146 miles per hour (235 km/h).
Bram Stoker's Dracula is a 1993 pinball machine released by Williams. It is based on the 1992 film of the same name.
World Cup Soccer is a 1994 pinball machine designed by John Popadiuk and Larry DeMar and released by Midway. It is based on the 1994 FIFA World Cup.
Red & Ted's Road Show is a 1994 widebody pinball game designed by Pat Lawlor and released by Williams. It is part of WMS' SuperPin line of widebody games.
FunHouse is a pinball machine designed by Pat Lawlor and released in November 1990 by Williams Electronics. Starring a talking ventriloquist dummy named Rudy, the game is themed after the concept of an amusement park funhouse. FunHouse is one of the last Williams games to use an alphanumeric display; the company switched to dot matrix the following year.
Jungle Lord is a 1981 pinball machine designed by Barry Oursler and produced by Williams Pinball. It features a Tarzan influenced theme, a multi-level playfield and a magnetic ball saver. Williams had introduced Magna Save in the Black Knight pinball game in 1980; Jungle Lord was one of four further Magna Save games produced in 1981, along with Pharaoh, Solar Fire and Grand Lizard. One difference from the Black Knight design was that Jungle Lord incorporated a "self-contained mini bagatelle style 'chamber' playfield, found on the top left-hand corner."
Whirlwind is a pinball machine produced by Williams in 1990 and was one of the last Williams System 11b games. It was designed by Pat Lawlor, who created a previous natural disaster-themed pinball for Williams, Earthshaker!.
Judge Dredd is a four-player pinball game produced by Bally Manufacturing in 1993, based on the British comic strip Judge Dredd in 2000 AD. Nearly 7,000 were made.
AC/DC is a pinball machine manufactured by Stern Pinball based on the Australian band of the same name. Designed by Steve Ritchie, it was released on March 1, 2012.
Genie is a widebody pinball machine designed by Ed Krynski and released in 1979 by Gottlieb. It features a jinn theme and was advertised with the slogans "Gottlieb's WIDE and Beautiful BODY" and "A Wide-Body Pinball absolutely bulging with player appeal and proven massive profit earning capacity!".
El Dorado City of Gold is a pinball machine designed by Ed Krynski and released in 1984 by Gottlieb. The game features an El Dorado adventure theme.
Lights...Camera...Action! is a pinball machine designed by Jon Norris and released by Gottlieb in 1989. The game features a movie making show business theme.
Earthshaker! is a pinball game designed by Pat Lawlor and released by Williams Electronics in 1989. The game features an earthquake theme and was advertised with the slogan "It's a Moving Experience!" Some prototypes have a building that when the shaker motor is activated will fall down but the team removed it due to cost savings.
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