History
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I am very, very slowly working on adding info here, but anyone who wants to add more info, feel free.
1 Bagatelle: The Origins Of Pinball
2 The Plunger
3 Electricity
4 The Flipper
5 The Transition from Electromechanical To Solid State
6 Dot Matrix Display (DMD)
7 Pinball 2000
In 1998, Williams Electronic Games was dealing with a pinball division that hadn't offered a profit for several years. To try and turn this around CEO Neil Nicastro, of Williams Electronic Games gathered the seven design teams together and gave them the Pinball 2000 initiative. This was a project to come up with a new style machine that people would buy and play, otherwise Williams Electronic Games would be shutting down its pinball division down.
8 The Last Manufacturer
Stern Pinball was formed in 1999 when Gary Stern bought Sega Pinball. This was not the first time that someone from the Stern family owned a pinball company, as Sam Stern owned Stern Electronics as well as being a part of Williams. Stern Pinball is currently the only company manufacturing pinball machines, holding that title from 1999-present. They have managed to survive on a low-production business model, with games costing ~$4600 for the standard price.