 | |
| Manufacturer | Bally |
|---|---|
| Release date | February, 1972 |
| Design | Ted Zale |
| Artwork | Dave Christensen |
| Music | {{{composer}}} |
| Production run | 3,815 |
Fireball is a historically notable pinball machine designed by Ted Zale and released by Bally in 1972. The table was one of the first to have a modern sci-fi/fantasy type of outer space theme and featured elaborate, painted artwork on the sides of the table, painted by Dave Christensen.
The game itself is notable as it featured several pinball innovations, including a spinning disc, moveable "zipper" flippers, and trapped ball bonuses. Fireball was also an early table to have the multi-ball (three balls, in this case) feature. Fireball's main surface and raised surface also featured elaborate artwork of a flaming "fire man", flames, and stars in space.
Partly due to the success of the original Fireball pinball machine, Bally released a "Professional Home Model" available to the regular consumer beginning in 1978. The layout was different from the arcade Fireball; it was a slight modification of the Bally's Hocus Pocus playfield with the subtraction of a ball diverter gate. [1]
In February 1985, Bally released Fireball Classic. While the field closely resembled the original this version was electronic and had no zipper-flippers. [2]
Richard Linklater plays a rotoscoped Fireball in his 2001 film Waking Life , in the penultimate scene where he expounds Dickian gnosticism to the protagonist.
Also, Linkater's 1993 film Dazed and Confused features a scene that shows extreme close-ups of a game being played on a Fireball.
During the episode "Pinball" (Original air date: November 29, 1985) of the television series Mr. Belvedere , the title character becomes obsessed with a "Firebomb" pinball machine, a slightly altered Fireball.
Fireball is a licensed table of The Pinball Arcade and comes with El Dorado (1975) as a single DLC.
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.
Gottlieb was an American arcade game corporation based in Chicago, Illinois. It is best known for creating a vast line of pinball machines and arcade games throughout much of the 20th century.
WMS Industries, Inc. was an American electronic gaming and amusement manufacturer in Enterprise, Nevada. It was merged into Scientific Games in 2016. WMS's predecessor was the Williams Manufacturing Company, founded in 1943 by Harry E. Williams. However, the company that became WMS Industries was formally founded in 1974 as Williams Electronics, Inc.
Baby Pac-Man is a hybrid maze and pinball game released in arcades by Bally Midway on October 11, 1982, nine months after the release of Ms. Pac-Man. The cabinet consists of a 13-inch video screen seated above a shortened, horizontal pinball table. The combination fits into roughly the same size space as an upright arcade machine. 7,000 units were produced.
A glossary of terms, commonly used in discussing pinball machines.
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.
Haunted House is a pinball game released in October 31 1982 by Gottlieb. It was the first game with three playfields that the ball can move between, including one below the main playing surface. Haunted House was designed by John Osborne, with artwork by Terry Doerzaph. It is part of Gottlieb’s “System 80” series of pinball machines.
Creature from the Black Lagoon is a pinball machine designed by John Trudeau and released by Midway. It is loosely based on the movie of the same name. The game's theme is 1950s drive-in theater. The pinball game was licensed from Universal Studios by Bally so that all backglass and cabinet artwork and creature depictions would resemble those of the original movie.
Xenon is a 1980 pinball machine designed by Greg Kmiec and released by Bally. The game was not only the first talking pinball table by Bally, but also the first with a female voice.
Elvira and the Party Monsters is a 1989 pinball game designed by Dennis Nordman and Jim Patla and released by Midway, featuring horrorshow-hostess Elvira. It was followed 1996 by Scared Stiff, also designed by Nordman.
Zaccaria, was an Italian company of pinball and arcade machines that existed in Bologna from 1974 until 1990. The factory was sold to tecnoplay.
Playmatic was a Spanish manufacturer of pinball machines, producing approx. 63 different models between 1968 and 1987. Although American pinball manufacturers create playfields by directly painting the artwork on a wooden surface, then add a layer of varnish or clear coat, Playmatic and other European manufacturers included the artwork on a durable plastic sheet laid over the flat wooden surface, resulting in added durability of the artwork image.
Taito of Brazil was a pinball and arcade manufacturer located in São Paulo, Brazil. The company originally started out as Clover Electronic Amusement in 1968, then became Taito of Brazil in 1972 by Abraham "Abba" Kogan, the son of the founder of the parent company Taito located in Japan. This subsidiary was originally an importer of existing U.S. and Japanese machine components to be assembled within the country. However, the taxation on imports had been growing steadily, and the government's belief that pinball is a game of chance and considered a gambling machine, led to strict import rules. By 1976, within rules created by the Electronic Processing Activities Coordinating Committee (CAPRE), it became illegal to import pinball machines. This created a problem, since the popularity of arcade games in Brazil had been growing exponentially for many years.
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!".
Centaur is a pinball machine designed by Jim Patla and produced by Bally. The game was inspired by the classic Bally's 1956 Balls-A-Poppin that was the first flipper pinball machine with multiball. Because of its success, the pinball machine was re-released in 1983 as Centaur II. The re-release has only a different backbox and was otherwise unchanged.
Flight 2000 is a 1980 Stern widebody pinball machine. It was the first table by this company with speech. The theme of the game revolves around futuristic space flight.
The Phantom of the Opera is a pinball machine released by Data East in 1990. The game is based on the 1910 French novel The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux, but not based on the 1986 musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber or movie of the same name, although released around the same time. The game was designed by Joe Kaminkow and Ed Cebula.
Knock Out is a pinball machine designed by Harry Mabs and released by Gottlieb on March 19, 1950. The game was marketed with the slogan: "Uproarious Slam-Bang Animation in a Real Ring on the Playfield". It should not be confused with Knockout by Bally from 1974.
Sorcerer is a 1985 pinball machine designed by Mark Ritchie and released by Williams Electronics. The table is placed in the "Internet Pinball Data Base Top 100 Rated Electronic Pinball Machines" chart.
Eight Ball Deluxe is a pinball machine designed by George Christian and released by Bally in 1981. The game features a cue sports theme and was so popular that it was produced again in 1984.
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