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[Prospero]

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Most entrepreneurs dream of building a successful company and one day eliminating the competition. For Gary Stern, that dream became a reality. As president and owner of Stern Pinball, he presides over the planet's sole surviving pinball-machine manufacturer.

And what if another company tried to enter the pinball market? "One of two things would happen," Stern says. "One is they would lose all of their money. The second is they might kill us because there's room for one. We're striving towards 10,000 machines a year, our breakeven is 65% or 70% of that. If somebody else came in, they would bring us to breakeven or below -- and maybe kill us both."

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

RIP Bally circa 1980-1985.

 

[gameboya]

that REALLY f'ing sucks. pinballs are awsome, i love them, have owned up to 4 and now only have 1 left. it's too bad how things went with that industry.

 

[shuri]

Fighting games killed the pinballs

 

[LakeEarth]

Pinballs do rock. Too bad they have to be so expensive, break a lot and don't get a lot of business anymore

 

[FnordChan]

Fighting games killed the pinballs

Not to mention slot machines; Williams' parent company decided they could make a helluva lot more cash selling slots than pins and shut down their pinball section completely, thus leaving Stern the only game in town. I'm praying Stern is able to stick with it.

FnordChan

 

[DDayton]

What's the current connection between Midway and Williams, anyway? I know I've seen Williams branded slot machines... did they official split into two companies at some point?

 

[fennec fox]

What's the current connection between Midway and Williams, anyway? I know I've seen Williams branded slot machines... did they official split into two companies at some point?

WMS Industries sold off all of its stock in Midway in 1998.

 

[Brimstone]

Microsoft should commision Stern to make a Halo pinball game and release it around the Halo 3 launch.

 

[vireland]

And what if another company tried to enter the pinball market? "One of two things would happen," Stern says. "One is they would lose all of their money. The second is they might kill us because there's room for one. We're striving towards 10,000 machines a year, our breakeven is 65% or 70% of that. If somebody else came in, they would bring us to breakeven or below -- and maybe kill us both."

Total bull. He's freaked because in October 2005 the australian dude that bought rights to Bally's name and a bunch of Williams stuff is going to start making new pinball machines (and RE-making ones like Medieval Madness, too!) and selling them through the same distributors in the US. Maybe it will make Stern up their game and make some decent-looking cabinets instead of that ink-jet looking stuff as well as cranking out some pins more like the great Lord of the Rings they did instead of crap like Ripleys Believe it or Not and Elvis.

 

[gameboya]

yah i really like LOTR pinball, but it's still waay over priced and stern is getting a BAD REP with regards to stuff breaking down easily. not exactly a good thing to be doing to your last surviving pin heads.

 

[Forgotten Ancient]

LOTR pinball was amazing. Our local arcade had it awhile ago and it was the only reason I went there. Then, for some reason, they replaced it with a broken south park machine, and now they have some shitty Taxi pinball machine.

 

[FoneBone]

Total bull. He's freaked because in October 2005 the australian dude that bought rights to Bally's name and a bunch of Williams stuff is going to start making new pinball machines (and RE-making ones like Medieval Madness, too!) and selling them through the same distributors in the US.

Is there some more info on this anywhere? I'm curious...

 

[Prospero]

Is there some more info on this anywhere? I'm curious...

A little Googling discovered these two articles--apparently, this just broke this week:

link

In a landmark deal with Williams, Wayne Gillard - Mr Pinball Australia - has exclusively licensed the intellectual properties and the rights to re-manufacture former Bally/Williams games in the field of mechanical pinball (including traditional pinball and Pinball 2000 style machines).

In addition, he also has bought the right to manufacture new games using his company's new hardware system under the Bally brand.

Stern's response--he's looking a little scared

Dear Ladies & Gentlemen:
It has been reported by a pinball enthusiasts' publication that WMS has sold and/or licensed some of its assets formerly used in its pinball business to an Australian game distributor, Wayne Gillard.

We have not verified this report. Mr. Gillard has been attempting to design a pinball machine for about a year.

 

[Parallax Scroll]

Way too many arcades have South Park pinball.

 

[vireland]

Way too many arcades have South Park pinball.

But very few have the version with the carpet-licking video mode.

 

[vireland]

yah i really like LOTR pinball, but it's still waay over priced and stern is getting a BAD REP with regards to stuff breaking down easily. not exactly a good thing to be doing to your last surviving pin heads.

Overpriced? Compare:

LotR used (nice shape, few hundred plays): $2800-$3000
LotR New in Box: $3500

Medieval Madness (used, good shape, 6000+ plays): $5000-$7000
Cactus Canyon (used): $5000-$9000
Attack From Mars (used): $3000-$5000

LotR is one of the best pins of the last 10-15 years. Not overpriced at all unless you're not shopping around. It's worth everything said about it, and definitely worth the price. Other Stern pins...not worth anything. They went from suck (pre-simpsons) to good (Simpsons) to great (LotR) to suck (Ripleys/Elvis/Sopranos/probably Nascar, too). Weird.

 

[border]

They went from suck (pre-simpsons) to good (Simpsons) to great (LotR) to suck (Ripleys/Elvis/Sopranos/probably Nascar, too). Weird.

Just out of curiousity, what is it that makes one pinball game good and another one suck? I've always thought it was fun, but never really had any kind of measuring stick for quality. They all seem about the same, and I more or less judged them on flash or how well they integrated their theme/license.

 

[truffleshuffle83]

i am actually seriosly thinkin about getting one. its between the simpsons and lord of the rings. any input would be appreciated from you guys. its either a pinball or two upright arcade machines. on of these or street fighter 2 championship edition and mortal kombat 2

 

[vireland]

i am actually seriosly thinkin about getting one. its between the simpsons and lord of the rings. any input would be appreciated from you guys. its either a pinball or two upright arcade machines. on of these or street fighter 2 championship edition and mortal kombat 2

Depends on how much of a fan you are of either Simpsons or LotR. I think LotR is the better of the two because of the deeper rules, and lack of over-played soundbites (Simpsons "D'oh" is WAY too frequent).

Pinball machines will hold their value more than arcade units, especially if they're maintained well. That's another thing, too. You WILL have to learn maintenance if you have a pin. they just require occasional fixes. I personally like that part of it.

check out rec.games.pinball for pin buying tips. It's a pretty friendly group for newbs.

 

[vireland]

Just out of curiousity, what is it that makes one pinball game good and another one suck? I've always thought it was fun, but never really had any kind of measuring stick for quality. They all seem about the same, and I more or less judged them on flash or how well they integrated their theme/license.

Rules and theme, followed closely by visual appeal (toys/action items), then technicals like sound quality and dots (animations/video modes/etc). LotR is a DEEP game, and simpsons is moderately deep. LotR is also tremendously well integrated with the movies.

Another example is a favorite of mine called The Shadow. The game is fast/hard/fun, but it's tied to a crappy license with a HUGE femmy pic of Alec Baldwin on the translite. A bargain game because of that at $1000-$1600 used.

 

[vireland]

and now they have some shitty Taxi pinball machine

TAXI's not so bad when it's kept up, but all the ones I've seen on location are in ultra-crappy shape and barely work at all. There's two versions of that machine, BTW. The "Marilyn" version has Marilyn Monroe on the PF and the backglass/translite. The were told to cease and desist, so they colored her hair and changed her name to "Lola". The Marilyn versions are worth more.

I have a TAXI (Lola version, unfortunately), and it's fun, but LotR is so much better it's not even in the same ballpark.

 

[Lambtron]

I got a pretty good kick out of Monopoly and Rollercoaster Tycoon, really. They don't compare to Addam's Family or Theatre of Magic (which is my personal favorite pin) or whatever, but they were respectable. I may have to hunt down a LOTR and give it a run... I like a good pin.

If this guy is reissuing Bally pins, maybe I can actually play Theatre of Magic, or Tales of the Arabian Nights, or any number of the classic pins I've pined over playing for quite a while. Hot stuff!

 

[vireland]

If this guy is reissuing Bally pins, maybe I can actually play Theatre of Magic, or Tales of the Arabian Nights, or any number of the classic pins I've pined over playing for quite a while. Hot stuff!

Many of the details are up in the air, such as how will he do Medieval Madness (which he supposedly can because of the mechanical reproduction license) if it has Williams all over it? Will the cabinet and art be changed to say "Bally"?

I don't think you'll see new ToM or ToTAN from him. It seems like he's targeting the pins that have been fetching crazy money used. This means Medieval Madness, Cactus Canyon, and probably Addams Family.

Seek out the LotR. If you're a fan of pinball and the books or the movies you'll really like it. The integration of the theme is really fantastic.

 

[Lambtron]

I don't think you'll see new ToM or ToTAN from him. It seems like he's targeting the pins that have been fetching crazy money used. This means Medieval Madness, Cactus Canyon, and probably Addams Family.

Seek out the LotR. If you're a fan of pinball and the books or the movies you'll really like it. The integration of the theme is really fantastic.

I meant to put Medieval Madness there, not Theatre of Magic-- long night! =)

I'll have to go truck stop hoppin' here one of these days with a pocket full of quarters. I love playing new, good pins.

 

[Prospero]

I'll have to go truck stop hoppin' here one of these days with a pocket full of quarters. I love playing new, good pins.

If you're looking around for nearby machines, the Pinball Locator (link) is a good resource.