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An arcade video game takes player input from its controls, processes it through electrical or computerized components, and displays output to an electronic monitor or similar display. All arcade video games are coin-operated or accept other means of payment, housed in an arcade cabinet, and located in amusement arcades alongside other kinds of arcade games. Until the early 2000s, arcade video games were the largest and most technologically advanced segment of the video game industry.
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.
Data East Corporation, also abbreviated as DECO, was a Japanese video game, pinball and electronic engineering company. The company was in operation from 1976 to 2003, and released 150 video game titles. At one time, the company had annual sales of 20 billion yen in the United States alone but eventually went bankrupt. The American subsidiary, Data East USA, was headquartered in San Jose, California. Its main headquarters were located in Suginami, Tokyo.
Chicago Coin was one of the early major manufacturers of pinball tables founded in Chicago, Illinois. The company was founded in 1932 by Samuel H. Gensburg and Samuel Wolberg to operate in the coin-operated amusement industry. In 1977, Gary Stern and Sam Stern purchased the assets of the Chicago Coin Machine Division as it was then called to found Stern Electronics, Inc. They also produced various arcade games during the 1960s to 1970s.
Stern is the name of two different but related arcade gaming companies. Stern Electronics, Inc. manufactured arcade video games and pinball machines from 1977 until 1985, and was best known for Berzerk. Stern Pinball, Inc., founded in 1986 as Data East Pinball, is a manufacturer of pinball machines in North America.
Mirco Games was a pinball and arcade game manufacturer from Phoenix, Arizona that existed from 1969 to 1978. They were originally called Arizona Automation from 1969 to 1973 and then changed their name to Mirco in 1974. They created the first microprocessor-based pinball table, The Spirit of '76 in 1975. They also copyrighted the name "Champion Soccer" They first imported then from Germany, then in 1971 they started manufacturing their own.
Romstar Inc. was a video game distribution company based in Torrance, California that started operations in 1984. They originally started as the first American distribution arm for SNK. They were known for licensing arcade games from major makers for distribution. Among Romstar's clients include Taito, Capcom, SNK, Toaplan, and Seta. They also made games for the Nintendo Entertainment System, the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, and Game Boy. The ultimate fate of the company is not known. Games continued to be released using the Romstar name until at least 1994. It is also partnered with Capcom in 1993 to form Game Star, an electromechanical factory in Arlington Heights, Illinois that Romstar had a 30% stake in. In 1995, Capcom would later fully take over Game Star to form Capcom Coin-Op, a pinball manufacturer.
Brian R. Eddy is an American game designer and programmer, best known for designing Attack From Mars pinball for Midway and programming FunHouse and, with Larry DeMar, The Machine: Bride of Pin*Bot. While at Williams Electronics / Midway Games, he also designed Medieval Madness, and programmed Indiana Jones: The Pinball Adventure. Eddy holds three patents related to game design.
George Gomez is an industrial designer, video game designer, and pinball designer who has worked for Bally, Williams, and Stern Pinball, among other companies. He has designed or contributed to several notable games, including Tron (1982), NBA Fastbreak (1997), and Monster Bash (1998).
The Pinball Arcade is a pinball video game developed by FarSight Studios. The game is a simulated collection of 100 real pinball tables licensed by Gottlieb, Alvin G. and Company, and Stern Pinball, a company which also owns the rights of machines from Data East and Sega Pinball. Williams and Bally games are no longer available since June 30, 2018, as FarSight had lost the license to WMS properties, which has since passed to Zen Studios.
Electro-mechanical games are types of arcade games that operate on a combination of some electronic circuitry and mechanical actions from the player to move items contained within the game's cabinet. Some of these were early light gun games using light-sensitive sensors on targets to register hits, while others were simulation games such as driving games, combat flight simulators and sports games. EM games were popular in amusement arcades from the late 1940s up until the 1970s, serving as alternatives to pinball machines, which had been stigmatized as games of chance during that period. EM games lost popularity in the 1970s, as arcade video games had emerged to replace them in addition to newer pinball machines designed as games of skill.
Zaccaria, was an Italian company of pinball and arcade machines that existed in Bologna from 1974 until 1990. The factory was sold to tecnoplay.
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.
Inder was a Spanish manufacturer of pinball machines which was in business between 1970 and 1993. Francisco Maestre was the director of Inder for many years. Inder experimented with the use of CRT monitors in their pinball machine's backboxes. The result was a hybrid game called Flip VI which came out in 1990. In 2010 the Spanish company Marsaplay produced 25 prototypes of New Canasta, which is a remake of Inder's original Canasta pinball machine.
Sega, S.A. SONIC was a Spanish coin-operated amusement machines company established by Sega Enterprises-related shareholders incorporated by Bertram Leroy Siegel as MD in March 1968, which lasted until its dissolution in 2006 – under the management of Eduardo Morales Hermo, as Marketing Director first, Vice President and CEO, who acquired the company from original shareholders Martin Bromley, Richard Stewart & Raymonf Lemaire in 1994.
Capcom Coin-Op was a pinball manufacturer, a wholly owned subsidiary of Capcom USA, which was founded in June 1995 and closed in December 1996. It developed and sold pinball and arcade game machines and converted games for the US market. Based in Sunnyvale, California and Arlington Heights, Illinois, the company developed eight pinball machines over the course of its short existence, though only four ever made it to release.
AtGames Cloud Holdings Inc. is an American video game and console manufacturer, known for their Legends Ultimate Arcade and the creator of the connected arcade. Since 2011, they have produced and marketed the Atari-licensed dedicated home video game console series Atari Flashback under license from Atari. Additionally, AtGames has produced ColecoVision and Intellivision Flashback consoles, and has worked with Sega on multiple different handhelds and retro consoles.
An arcade video game is an arcade game where the player's inputs from the game's controllers are processed through electronic or computerized components and displayed to a video device, typically a monitor, all contained within an enclosed arcade cabinet. Arcade video games are often installed alongside other arcade games such as pinball and redemption games at amusement arcades. Up until the late 1990s, arcade video games were the largest and most technologically advanced sector of the video game industry.
An arcade game or coin-op game is a coin-operated entertainment machine typically installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are presented as primarily games of skill and include arcade video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games or merchandisers.
References
- ↑ "Company Profile – American Pinball". RePlay Magazine. 2019-07-01. Retrieved 2024-01-18.
- ↑ Silverman, Dwight. "Houston's Barrels of Fun takes aim at pinball revival with game based on David Bowie film". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 2024-01-18.
- ↑ "Chicago Gaming Company, pinball manufacturer since 2003". Pinball Mag. Retrieved 2024-01-18.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "European pinball manufacturers". Pinball Mag. Retrieved 2024-01-18.
- ↑ "About". Haggis Pinball. 2020-01-29. Retrieved 2024-01-18.
- ↑ "hpin | About Us". homepin.com. Retrieved 2024-01-18.
- 1 2 3 4 Friedman, Beth; Friedman, Marty (2020-01-06). "America's Iconic Pinball Manufacturers Past & Present". Pastime Pinball. Retrieved 2024-01-18.
- ↑ Littlejohn, Dan. "About". Multimorphic, Inc. Retrieved 2024-01-18.
- 1 2 "Other pinball manufacturers". Pinball Mag. Retrieved 2024-01-18.
- ↑ Glauber, Bill (2023-03-14). "Wisconsin's pinball wizard: Small-town entrepreneur's Spooky Pinball turns an old-school hobby into a thriving business". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved 2024-01-18.
- ↑ "Stern Pinball Inc. | List of Stern Pinball Machines". www.kineticist.co. Retrieved 2024-01-18.
- ↑ "Bill Port". Museo del Recreativo (in Spanish). Retrieved 2024-01-19.
- ↑ Smith, Keith (2014-11-15). "The Golden Age Arcade Historian: Company Profile - Mirco Games". The Golden Age Arcade Historian. Retrieved 2024-01-18.
- ↑ Banasik, Waldemar (2014). "Natale Zaccaria Interview". Pinball News. Retrieved 2024-02-05.