Stern (game company)
| Industry | Arcade games |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1977 (Stern Electronics), 1986 (Stern Pinball) |
| Headquarters | United States |
Key people | Sam Stern Gary Stern, Chairman Seth Davis, CEO |
| Products | Arcade video games, pinball machines |
| Owner | Gary Stern |
| Website | sternpinball |
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.
Stern Electronics, Inc.
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (October 2019) |
Stern Electronics was formed when the Stern family bought the financially troubled Chicago Coin in 1977. Chicago Coin's assets were purchased at bankruptcy sales forming the core inventory of Stern Electronics, Inc.; however, as a separate company, they did not assume any of the debt Chicago Coin had amassed.
The first two games made by Stern were Stampede and Rawhide, both originally made by Chicago Coin, which only had changes made to their branding and logos. After a weak start, Stern Electronics' sales started picking up by the end of 1977. By 1978, they had switched over to fully solid-state electronics for their games. In 1979, Stern acquired the jukebox production assets of the bankrupt Seeburg Corporation, and the company became known as Stern / Seeburg. Coincidentally, Seeburg also owned Williams in the 1960s, when Sam Stern was its president.
When arcade video games became popular in 1980, Stern Electronics produced Berzerk. In 1983, Stern became one of many victims of the amusement industry economic shakeout that occurred. In 1985, Stern Electronics left the amusement industry. Personnel from Stern Electronics formed a short-lived venture known as Pinstar, producing conversion kits for old Bally and Stern machines. Gary Stern was the president of Stern Electronics, Inc, Pinstar Inc, and Data East pinball.
On March 16, 2023, Atari announced that it had acquired the intellectual property rights to 12 Stern Electronics titles, including Berzerk and Frenzy. [1]
Stern Pinball, Inc.
By 1999, the pinball industry was virtually dead and Williams stopped manufacturing pinball machines and focused on gambling devices as WMS Gaming.[2] During the same year, Sega left the pinball industry and sold its pinball division, previously purchased from Data East in 1994,[3] to Gary Stern, the son of Sam Stern. In October 1999, Sega sold the pinball portion of its company to Gary Stern, who had been running Data East/Sega pinball since 1986, and Stern Pinball was born.[3][4][5] Stern Pinball, Inc. is based in Elk Grove Village, Illinois.
As of 2023, longtime designers Brian Eddy, John Borg, and George Gomez are designing pinball games at Stern Pinball, alongside top-ranking competitive player Keith Elwin and popular pinball streamer Jack Danger.[6]
Some Stern pinball tables were also digitally released through The Pinball Arcade and Stern Pinball Arcade.
Pinball machines
Stern Electronics
- Stampede (1977)
- Rawhide (1977)
- Disco (1977)
- Pinball (1977)
- Stingray (1977)
- Stars (1978)
- Memory Lane (1978)
- Lectronamo (1978)
- Wild Fyre (1978)
- Nugent (1978)
- Dracula (1979)
- Trident (1979)
- Hot Hand (1979)
- Magic (1979)
- Cosmic Princess (1979) (Produced in Australia by Leisure and Allied Industries under license from Stern Electronics Inc)[7][8]
- Meteor (1979) (Highest production of all Stern Electronics' Pinballs)[8]
- Galaxy (1980)
- Ali (1980)
- Big Game (1980) (First game to incorporate seven-digit scoring in the digital era)[9]
- Seawitch (1980)
- Cheetah (1980)
- Quicksilver (1980)
- Star Gazer (1980)
- Flight 2000 (1980) (Stern's first game with multi-ball and speech)
- Nine Ball (1980)
- Freefall (1981)
- Lightning (1981)
- Split Second (1981)
- Catacomb (1981)
- Viper (1981)
- Dragonfist (1982)
- Iron Maiden (1982) (Unrelated to the British heavy metal band)
- Orbitor 1 (1982) (Featured a 3d-vacuum formed playfield with spinning rubber bumpers causing frenetic ball action; it was the company's last released game)[8]
- Cue (1982) (Six machines built)
- Lazer Lord (1984) (One prototype built)
Stern Pinball
| Machine Name | Year | Lead Designer | License Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Harley Davidson | 1999 | John Borg & Lonnie D. Ropp | Harley-Davidson |
| Striker Xtreme | 2000 | Joe Balcer | Original Theme |
| Sharkey's Shootout | 2000 | John Borg | Original Theme |
| High Roller Casino | 2001 | Jon Norris | Original Theme |
| Austin Powers | 2001 | John Borg & Lonnie D. Ropp | Austin Powers |
| Monopoly | 2001 | Pat Lawlor | Monopoly (game) |
| NFL | 2001 | Joe Balcer | National Football League |
| Playboy | 2002 | George Gomez & Dwight Sullivan | Playboy |
| RollerCoaster Tycoon | 2002 | Pat Lawlor | RollerCoaster Tycoon |
| The Simpsons Pinball Party | 2003 | Joe Balcer & Keith P. Johnson | The Simpsons |
| Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines | 2003 | Steve Ritchie | Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines |
| The Lord of the Rings | 2003 | George Gomez | The Lord of the Rings (film series) |
| Ripley's Believe It or Not! | 2004 | Pat Lawlor | Ripley's Believe It or Not! |
| Elvis | 2004 | Steve Ritchie | Elvis Presley |
| The Sopranos | 2005 | George Gomez | The Sopranos |
| Grand Prix | 2005 | Pat Lawlor | Orignal |
| NASCAR | 2005 | Pat Lawlor | NASCAR |
| World Poker Tour | 2006 | Steve Ritchie | World Poker Tour |
| Pirates of the Caribbean | 2006 | Dennis Nordman | Pirates of the Caribbean |
| Dale Jr. | 2007 | Pat Lawlor | Dale Earnhardt Jr. |
| Family Guy | 2007 | Pat Lawlor | Family Guy |
| Spider-Man | 2007 | Stevie Ritchie | Spider-Man (Sam Raimi's film trilogy) |
| Wheel of Fortune | 2007 | Dennis Nordman | Wheel of Fortune (American game show) |
| Indiana Jones | 2008 | John Borg | First four Indiana Jones films |
| Batman (The Dark Knight) | 2008 | George Gomez | First two films in The Dark Knight Trilogy |
| Shrek | 2008 | Pat Lawlor | First 3 Shrek films |
| CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | 2008 | Pat Lawlor | CSI: Crime Scene Investigation |
| 24 | 2008 | Steve Ritchie | 24 (TV series) |
| NBA | 2008 | John Borg & Ray Tanzer | National Basketball Association |
| Big Buck Hunter Pro | 2009 | John Borg | Big Buck Hunter |
| Iron Man | 2010 | John Borg | First two Iron Man films |
| Avatar | 2010 | John Borg | Avatar (2009 film) |
| The Rolling Stones | 2011 | Tom Kopera | The Rolling Stones |
| TRON: Legacy | 2011 | John Borg | TRON: Legacy |
| Transformers | 2011 | George Gomez | Transformers (film series) |
| AC/DC | 2012 | Steve Ritchie | AC/DC |
| X-Men | 2012 | John Borg | X-Men |
| The Avengers | 2012 | George Gomez | The Avengers (2012 film) |
| Metallica | 2013 | John Borg | Metallica |
| Star Trek | 2013 | Steve Ritchie | J.J. Abrams Star Trek films |
| Mustang | 2014 | John Trudeau | Ford Mustang |
| The Walking Dead | 2014 | John Borg | The Walking Dead (TV series) |
| WWE: Wrestlemania | 2015 | John Trudeau | WWE |
| Whoa Nellie: Big Juicy Melons | 2015 | Dennis Nordman | Original Theme |
| KISS | 2015 | John Borg | Kiss (band) |
| Game of Thrones | 2015 | Steve Ritchie | Game of Thrones |
| Ghostbusters | 2016 | John Trudeau | First two Ghostbusters films |
| Batman 66 | 2016 | George Gomez | Batman (TV series) |
| Aerosmith | 2017 | John Borg | Aerosmith |
| Star Wars | 2017 | Steve Ritchie | Star Wars original trilogy |
| Guardians of the Galaxy | 2017 | John Borg | Guardians of the Galaxy (film) |
| Iron Maiden: Legacy of the Beast | 2018 | Keith Elwin | Iron Maiden |
| Supreme | 2018 | George Gomez | Supreme (brand) |
| Deadpool | 2018 | George Gomez | Deadpool |
| The Beatles | 2018 | Joe Kaminkow | The Beatles |
| Munsters | 2019 | John Borg | The Munsters |
| Black Knight: Sword of Rage | 2019 | Steve Ritchie | Sequel to Black Knight (pinball) and Black Knight 2000 |
| Jurassic Park | 2019 | Keith Elwin | Jurassic Park (film) |
| Elvira's House of Horrors' | 2019 | Dennis Nordman | Elvira's Movie Macabre and a sequel to Elvira and the Party Monsters and Scared Stiff (pinball) |
| Stranger Things | 2019 | Brian Eddy | Stranger Things |
| Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles | 2020 | John Borg | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles |
| Heavy Metal | 2020 | George Gomez | Heavy Metal (magazine) |
| Avengers: Infinity Quest | 2020 | Keith Elwin | Avengers (comics) |
| Led Zeppelin | 2020 | Steve Ritchie | Led Zeppelin |
| The Mandalorian | 2021 | Brian Eddy | The Mandalorian |
| Godzilla | 2021 | Keith Elwin | Godzilla |
| Rush | 2022 | John Borg | Rush (band) |
| James Bond 007 | 2022 | George Gomez | Sean Connery James Bond films |
| James Bond 007 60th Anniversary | 2022 | Keith Elwin | All James Bond Films |
| Foo Fighters | 2023 | Jack Danger | Foo Fighters |
| Venom | 2023 | Brian Eddy | Venom (character) |
Arcade games manufactured by Stern
- Astro Invader (1980) (programmed by Konami)[11]
- Berzerk (1980)[11]
- The End (1980) (programmed by Konami)
- Scramble (1981) (programmed by Konami)
- Super Cobra (1981) (programmed by Konami)
- Moon War (1981)
- Turtles (1981) (programmed by Konami)[11]
- Strategy X (1981) (programmed by Konami)
- Jungler (1981) (programmed by Konami)
- Armored Car (1981)
- Amidar (1981) (programmed by Konami)
- Frenzy (1982)[11]
- Tazz-Mania (1982)
- Tutankham (1982) (programmed by Konami)
- Pooyan (1982)[11] (programmed by Konami)
- Dark Planet (1982) (designed by Erick Erickson and Dan Langlois)
- Rescue (1982)[11][12]
- Calipso (1982) (developed by Stern, released by Tago Electronics)
- Anteater (1982) (developed by Stern, released by Tago Electronics)
- Mazer Blazer (1982)
- Lost Tomb (1982)
- Bagman (Le Bagnard) (1982) (programmed by Valadon Automation)
- Pop Flamer (1982) (programmed by Jaleco)
- Star Jacker (1983) (programmed by Sega)
- Minefield (1983)[11]
- Cliff Hanger (1983)[11] (laserdisc game using video footage from TMS)
- Great Guns (1984)
- Goal to Go (1984) (laserdisc game)
- Super Bagman (1984)[11] (programmed by Valadon Automation)
References
- ^ "ATARI ANNOUNCES ACQUISITION OF BERZERK AND FRENZY IP". Atari. Retrieved 1 April 2023.
- ^ Headlam, Bruce (28 October 1999). "Pinball Line Closing Down". The New York Times.
- ^ a b "Pinball Runs Out of Wizardry". Chicago Tribune.
- ^ Davey, Monica (25 April 2008). "For a Pinball Survivor, the Game Isn't Over". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 April 2008.
- ^ Pinball, Stern. "About". Stern Pinball.
- ^ Pinball, Stern. "Stern Pinball Enhances Game Design Studio". Stern Pinball.
- ^ "Cosmic Princess". Pinpedia.
- ^ a b c "The Internet Pinball Machine Database". www.ipdb.org.
- ^ "Internet Pinball Machine Database: Stern 'Big Game' Images". www.ipdb.org.
- ^ "Pinside Game Archive >> Stern (Manufacturer)". Pinside.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "Stern Electronics – coin-operated machines". www.arcade-museum.com.
- ^ Sharpe, Roger C. (June 1983). "Insert Coin Here". Electronic Games. p. 92. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
External links
- Stern Electronics pinball machines
- Stern pinball machines
- Companies based in Chicago
- Companies based in Cook County, Illinois
- Pinball manufacturers
- Video game companies of the United States
- Melrose Park, Illinois
- Entertainment companies established in 1977
- Video game companies established in 1977
- Manufacturing companies established in 1977