Timeline of pinball development

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Note: Be aware that some items in this list may be disputed by pinball collectors, based on various criteria, including design vs production dates in which games designed with a feature may have had their production delayed until after a later designed game with a similar feature.

  • First pinball machine that was commercially successful: Gottlieb's Baffle Ball (1931)
  • First pinball machine with a tilt mechanism: Williams' Advance (1932)
  • First pinball machine with a bumper: Bally's Bumper (1936)
  • First pinball machine with full-sized backglass: Dux (1937)
  • First pinball machine to use flippers: Humpty Dumpty (1947)
  • First pinball machine to use "jet bumpers" and locate the flippers at lower end of playfield: Williams' Saratoga (1948)
  • First pinball machine without a plunger (launch by pressing either flipper buttons, which ejects the ball from the center drain): Gottlieb's Just 21 (1950)
  • First pinball machine with score wheels: Williams' Army Navy (1953)
  • First pinball machine to use a ramp on playfield: Williams' Nine Sisters] (1953)
  • First pinball machine for four players: Gottlieb's Super Jumbo (1954)
  • First pinball machine with multiball: Bally's Balls-a-Poppin' (1956)
  • First pinball machine to feature a single shot for one million points: Williams' Arrow Head (1957)
  • First pinball machine with a moving target: Williams' Magic Clock (1960)
  • First pinball machine to award an extra ball: Gottlieb's Flipper (1960)
  • First pinball machine to use drop targets: Williams' Vagabond (1962)
  • First pinball machine to feature an up post: Williams' Cabaret (1968)
  • First pinball to be licensed from a movie: Bally's WIZARD (1975)[1]
  • First pinball machine to feature multiple banks of drop targets: Gottlieb's 2001 (1971)
  • First pinball machine to use a microprocessor: Mirco Games' Spirit of 76 (1975)
  • First pinball machine to accept dollars (Susan B. Anthony coin): Bally's Kiss (1978)
  • First pinball machine that spoke (a seven-word vocabulary): Williams' Gorgar (1979)
  • First pinball machine to use a pool ball as the pinball (the largest commercial game ever built): Atari's Hercules (1979)
  • First pinball machine with multi-ball in the solid-state electronics era: Williams' Firepower (1980)
  • First pinball machine with "lane advance" (player control of top rollover lane lights): Williams' Firepower (1980)
  • First pinball machine with two-level playfield: Williams' Black Knight (1980)
  • First pinball machine with Magna-Save (player-controlled magnet to prevent outlane drains): Williams' Black Knight (1980)
  • First pinball machine with reverse playfield: Gottlieb's Black Hole (1981)
  • First pinball machine to combine mechanical pinball with a video game: Gottlieb's Caveman (1982)
  • First pinball machine with a three-level playfield: Gottlieb's Haunted House (1982) ^ 
  • First pinball machine to feature a single shot for one million points in the solid-state electronics era: Williams' Comet (1985)
  • First pinball machine with an alpha-numeric display: Gottlieb's Chicago Cubs: Triple Play (1985)
  • First pinball machine to feature a 360 degree vertical loop on the playfield: Gottlieb/Premier's Gold Wings (1986)
  • First pinball machine to auto-adjust replay scores based on game history: Williams' High Speed (1986)
  • First pinball machine to feature a complete song/soundtrack: Williams' High Speed (1986)
  • First pinball machine with a jackpot that carried over between games: Williams' High Speed (1986)
  • First pinball machine to feature an automatic ball saver F-14 Tomcat (1987)
  • First pinball machine with a video monitor scoring display: Mr. Game's Dakar (1988)
  • First pinball machine to feature a wizard mode (high-scoring mode): Williams' Black Knight 2000 (1989)
  • First pinball machine to feature a shaker motor (shakes whole machine): Williams' Earthshaker! (1989)
  • First pinball machine to feature a known celebrity voice (Cassandra Peterson - Elvira) especially recorded for the machine: Bally's Elvira and the Party Monsters (1989)
  • First pinball machine with a dot matrix scoring display: Data East's Checkpoint (1991)
  • First pinball machine to feature a choice of alternate soundtracks (selected by the player): Data East's Checkpoint (1991)
  • First pinball machine with a cannon-launcher (player "shoots" captured pinball at targets): Williams' Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
  • First pinball machine with a video mode: Williams' Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
  • First pinball machine with a built-in dollar bill validator: Data East's Lethal Weapon 3 (1992)
  • First pinball machine to reward for a "death save": Data East's The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends (1993)
  • First pinball machine to use a non-metallic, ceramic pinball (called a "Powerball"): Bally's Twilight Zone (1993)
  • First pinball machine with a player-controlled mini playfield: Williams' Indiana Jones: The Pinball Adventure (1993)
  • First pinball machine with multiple cannon-launchers: Williams' Star Trek: The Next Generation (1993)
  • First pinball machine to move the scoring display from the backbox into the cabinet: Bally's Cirqus Voltaire (1997)
  • First pinball machine to overlay interactive video onto the mechanical playfield: Bally's Revenge From Mars (1999)