 | |
| Manufacturer | Gottlieb |
|---|---|
| Release date | October 1981 |
| System | Gottlieb System 80 |
| Design | Jerry Yingst, Joe Cicak, John Buras, Adolf Seitz Jr. |
| Artwork | Terry Doerzaph |
| Music | {{{composer}}} |
| Production run | 8,774 |
Black Hole is a pinball game released in 1981 by Gottlieb. It is notable for having two playfields: one on top with a conventional slope, and one mounted underneath, sloping away from the player. It has no connection with the 1979 film of the same name.
Black Hole was the first machine to feature a lower playfield viewed through a window in the upper playfield. It was touted as the highest-grossing pinball game of all time shortly after its release, partly due to (or despite) the fact that it was the first pinball game which cost 50¢ to play (although many argue that Williams Black Knight , and Firepower were already at 50¢ before the release of Black Hole). [1] Black Hole's robotic speech is generated by a Votrax SC-01. [2]
In Japan, Game Machine listed Black Hole on their June 1, 1983 issue as being the eighth most-successful flipper unit of the year. [4]
Upon its release, the game 'Black Hole' was deemed challenging to maintain and did not gain popularity among operators. [5]
Black Hole is available as a licensed table of The Pinball Arcade for several platforms. The game is also included in the Pinball Hall of Fame: The Gottlieb Collection .
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.
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.
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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.
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.
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.
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.
Ace High is a woodrail pinball machine released by Gottlieb in 1957. It features a card gambling theme. It should not be confused with Aces High by Bally.