Stern (game company)

Stern is the name of two different but related arcade gaming companies: Stern Electronics, Inc. and Stern Pinball, Inc.

Contents 1 Stern Electronics, Inc. 2 Stern Pinball, Inc. 3 Notable pinball machines 3.1 Stern Electronics 3.2 Stern Pinball 4 Notable arcade games manufactured by Stern 5 References 6 External links

Stern Electronics, Inc.

Stern Electronics' history dates back 1946, when Harry E. Williams founded Williams Electronics. Sam Stern was a Philadelphia area distributor and operator who purchased half of Williams Electronics in the early 1950s. He served as president of Williams Electronics for several years. Stern Electronics was formed when the Stern family bought the financially-troubled Chicago Coin in 1977.

After a weak start, Stern Electronics' sales started picking up by the end of 1977. Although not as successful as rivals Williams and Bally (Gottlieb had been purchased in 1977 by Columbia Pictures but was still a formidable competitor as well), Stern managed to produce its share of moderately successful pinballs as well. Also, in 1979, Stern acquired jukebox maker Seeburg Corporation, and the company became known as Stern / Seeburg. Coincidentally, Seeburg also owned Williams in the 60s, when Sam Stern was its president.

When arcade video games became popular in 1980, Stern produced Berzerk. No other video game it made was ever as popular as Berzerk, however, and 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. 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.

Stern Pinball, Inc.

By 1999, the pinball industry was virtually dead and Williams, once the dominant leader in a healthy industry, decided to stop manufacturing pinball tables and focus on gambling devices as WMS Gaming. During the same year, Sega decided to leave the pinball industry as well and sold its pinball division, previously purchased from Data East in 1994, to Gary Stern, the son of Sam Stern. Gary Stern, who had been running Data East/Sega pinball since 1986, founded Stern Pinball, Inc. that same year and since then, the company has been the only manufacturer of original pinball tables in the world.^[1] Stern Pinball, Inc. is based in Melrose Park, Illinois.

Several Williams alumni, like pinball designers Steve Ritchie and Pat Lawlor, as well as George Gomez (who also works at Midway Games) and more recently, Dennis Nordman, are currently designing games for Stern Pinball. As of 2009, John Borg is head of the design department. He is known for designing Apollo 13, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and many others.

Notable pinball machines

Stern Electronics

Stern Pinball

Notable arcade games manufactured by Stern

• Astro Invader (1980)
• Berzerk (1980)
• Amidar (1981) (programmed by Konami)
• Scramble (1981) (programmed by Konami)
• Super Cobra (1981) (programmed by Konami)
• Turtles (1981)
• Anteater (1982)
• Bagman (Le Bagnard) (1982) (programmed by Valadon Automation)
• Frenzy (1982)
• Lost Tomb (1982)
• Pooyan (1982) (programmed by Konami)
• Rescue (1982)
• Tutankham (1982) (programmed by Konami)
• Minefield (1983)
• Super Bagman (1984) (programmed by Valadon Automation)
• Cliff Hanger (1983) (laserdisc game using video footage from TMS)

References

External links

• Stern Pinball, Inc. official website
• Internet Pinball Database
• Stern at the Arcade Museum website