Stern (game company)
Template:Short description Template:DMCA
Page Module:Infobox/styles.css has no content.Page Template:Infobox company/styles.css has no content.
| Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:InfoboxImage/data' not found. | |
| ISIN | Script error: No such module "WikidataIB". |
|---|---|
| Industry | Script error: No such module "WikidataIB". |
| Predecessor | Script error: No such module "WikidataIB". |
| Incorporated | Script error: No such module "WikidataIB". |
| Founded | Script error: No such module "WikidataIB". |
| Founder | Script error: No such module "WikidataIB". |
| Defunct | Script error: No such module "WikidataIB". |
| Successor | Script error: No such module "WikidataIB". |
| Headquarters | United States |
Key people | Sam Stern Gary Stern, Chairman Seth Davis, CEO |
| Products | Arcade video games, pinball machines |
| Revenue | Script error: No such module "WikidataIB". |
| Script error: No such module "WikidataIB". | |
| Script error: No such module "WikidataIB". | |
| Total assets | Script error: No such module "WikidataIB". |
| Owner | Gary Stern |
Number of employees | Script error: No such module "WikidataIB". |
| Website | sternpinball |
Script error: No such module "Check for conflicting parameters".Script error: No such module "Check for deprecated parameters".
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.
Page Module:Message box/ambox.css has no content.
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (October 2019) |
Stern Electronics was formed when Sam and Gary Stern bought the financially troubled Chicago Coin in January 1977. Sam had previously owned the amusements manufacturer Williams, purchasing half of the company in 1947 and selling it to the Seeburg Corporation in 1964. Gary had trained under his father at Williams, and from 1973-1976 the two ran the company. Stern Electronics, Inc. acquired their core inventory by purchasing Chicago Coin's assets at bankruptcy sales; as a separate company, they did not assume any of the debt Chicago Coin had amassed.[1] In September 1977 it acquired Universal Research Laboratories after they went bankrupt a few months earlier.[2][3] Universal Research Laboratories manufactured circuit boards for Bally pinball machines, and then reverse engineered these for Stern, who were then sued by Bally.[4] An agreement to pay royalties was reached which by September 1981 totaled $700,000.[5]
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.[citation needed] They produced their first solid-state pinball machine, called Pinball that year.[6] By 1978, they had switched over to fully solid-state electronics for their games.[7] In July 1980, Stern acquired the jukebox production assets of the bankrupt Seeburg Corporation for $1.5 million.[3][8][9] Stern sought to increase sales in the declining jukebox market by modernizing machines with the addition of screens and customizable displays.[3] Also in October of 1980, Stern purchased the August J. Johnson Co., a Bensenville, Ill.-based cabinet manufacturer.
When arcade video games became popular in 1980, Stern Electronics produced Berzerk, which sold 20,000 machines,[3] and stopped producing pinball machines in 1982.[6] However, Stern became one of many victims of the video game crash of 1983. They received financial support to continue operations from machine distributor Al Simon and sold Seeburg in March of 1984. In late 1984, Sam Stern died and Stern Electronics closed on February 1, 1985.[10][6][1] From 1985 to 1986, personnel from Stern Electronics formed a venture known as Pinstar that produced conversion kits for old Bally and Stern machines, with Gary Stern continuing to function as president.[7] He then went on to help found Data East's pinball division in November 1986 and continued to lead there when it was acquired by Sega in 1994.[11][12] While Data East did operate out of the old Stern Electronics property, sources differ on whether they acquired the company or just the facilities.[1][13]
On March 16, 2023, Atari SA announced that it had acquired the intellectual property rights to 12 Stern Electronics titles, including Berzerk and Frenzy.[14]
Stern Pinball, Inc.
Page Module:Message box/ambox.css has no content.
By 1999, the pinball industry was virtually dead.[15] Sega (which had acquired Data East Pinball in late 1994 and renamed it to Sega Pinball), left the pinball industry by spinning off their pinball division and selling it to Gary Stern, and Stern Pinball was born.[13] Stern Pinball became the only commercial pinball manufacturer left, but continued to struggle in the 2000s, producing just 10,000 machines per year and selling the majority of them overseas.[16][15]
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.[17] Stern Pinball, Inc. is based in Elk Grove Village, Illinois.
Some Stern pinball tables were also digitally released through The Pinball Arcade and Stern Pinball Arcade.
Lists of machines and games
Stern Electronics
Page Template:Div col/styles.css has no content.
- 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)
- Genesis (1979) (shuffle alley)
- Hot Hand (1979)
- Magic (1979)
- Cosmic Princess (1979) (Produced in Australia by Leisure and Allied Industries under license from Stern Electronics Inc)[18][19]
- Meteor (1979) (Highest production of all Stern Electronics' Pinballs)[19]
- Galaxy (1980)
- Ali (1980)
- Big Game (1980) (First game to incorporate seven-digit scoring in the digital era)[20]
- 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)[19]
- Cue (1982) (Six machines built)
- Lazer Lord (1984) (One prototype built)
- Black Beauty (1984) (shuffle alley)
Stern Pinball
Script error: No such module "labelled list hatnote".
Arcade games manufactured by Stern
- Astro Invader (1980) (programmed by Konami)[21]
- Berzerk (1980)[21]
- 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)[21]
- Strategy X (1981) (programmed by Konami)
- Jungler (1981) (programmed by Konami)
- Armored Car (1981)
- Amidar (1981) (programmed by Konami)
- Frenzy (1982)[21]
- Tazz-Mania (1982)
- Tutankham (1982) (programmed by Konami)
- Pooyan (1982)[21] (programmed by Konami)
- Dark Planet (1982) (designed by Erick Erickson and Dan Langlois)
- Rescue (1982)[21][22]
- 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)[21]
- Cliff Hanger (1983)[21] (laserdisc game using video footage from TMS)
- Great Guns (1984)
- Goal to Go (1984) (laserdisc game)
- Super Bagman (1984)[21] (programmed by Valadon Automation)
References
Page Template:Reflist/styles.css has no content.
- ^ a b c Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Nox, Lazarus (20 June 2023). "Gary Stern- Founder of Stern Pinball". Pinball Mag. Retrieved 14 January 2025.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Stern acquires Universal Research". Play Meter. Vol. 3, no. 19. October 1977. p. 38.
- ^ a b c d Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Video game firms ride the big wave". The San Francisco Examiner. 25 December 1981. p. 30. Retrieved 25 September 2025.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Kriesel, Dennis (20 September 2018). "The Dawn of the Solid-State Era". Kineticist. Retrieved 26 June 2025.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.1984-01-04 Trial Brief. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE Patent and Trademark Office. 4 January 1984. p. 82.
- ^ a b c Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Mole, Eddie. "Eddietorial: Stern's First Big Pinball Adventure". Pinball News. Retrieved 14 January 2025.
- ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Thomasson, Michael (27 March 2023). "Stern Pinball Through the Decades". Old School Gamer Magazine. Retrieved 14 January 2025.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Coinman of the month - Gary Stern". Play Meter. Vol. 6, no. 21. November 1980. pp. 8–18.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Seeburg settlement plan". Play Meter. Vol. 6, no. 17. 15 September 1980. p. 44.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Stern closes". Play Meter. Vol. 11, no. 4. 1 March 1985. p. 8.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Harding, Matt (26 May 2023). "Sam Stern, Gary Stern Make Hall of Fame Entry 0". RePlay Magazine. Retrieved 14 January 2025.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Stern at Sixty". Pinball News. 17 June 2005. Retrieved 14 January 2025.
- ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Pinball Runs Out of Wizardry". Chicago Tribune. 14 December 1999.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."ATARI ANNOUNCES ACQUISITION OF BERZERK AND FRENZY IP". Atari. 16 March 2023. Retrieved 1 April 2023.
- ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Pinball losing its ping and zing of storied past". Chicago Tribune. 14 August 2002. Retrieved 14 January 2025.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Davey, Monica (25 April 2008). "For a Pinball Survivor, the Game Isn't Over". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 April 2008.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Pinball, Stern (20 December 2021). "Stern Pinball Enhances Game Design Studio". Stern Pinball.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Cosmic Princess". Pinpedia.
- ^ a b c Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."The Internet Pinball Machine Database". www.ipdb.org.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Internet Pinball Machine Database: Stern 'Big Game' Images". www.ipdb.org.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Stern Electronics – coin-operated machines". www.arcade-museum.com.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Sharpe, Roger C. (June 1983). "Insert Coin Here". Electronic Games. p. 92. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
.jpg){kind=link}