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Ant writes "Shacknews posted BusinessWeek's Pinball's Last Remaining Wizard article that is a portrait piece on Gary Stern, president and owner of Stern Pinball, which is the last remaining pinball manufacturer in the world. Yearly, his company produces 10,000 hand-built machines and designs about 3-4 different models. A few of their most recent releases used licensed rights of the Sopranos and The Simpsons."

Thanks to Retrogames for pointing to the news that a Lord Of The Rings pinball machine has been announced, courtesy of sole remaining pinball manufacturer Stern Pinball Inc. There are no pictures yet, but the press release reveals features including "...a Balrog toy that pivots when hit by the ball, revealing the jump ramp that leads to The One Ring", and the fact that "...players can knock down Barad-dur, which also features the eye of Sauron." The game "will begin shipping in November, 2003", and follows recent Stern machines such as The Simpsons Pinball Party and Terminator 3.

Thanks to RetroGames for pointing to a new review of the Terminator 3 pinball machine from sole remaining pinball manufacturer Stern, which features "a Rocket Propelled Grenade launcher in the backglass" as its chief gimmick. Unfortunately, there's no actual high explosives, as "..this interactive mechanism fires balls into targets for high score and progressive game play", but the official product page does point out that this machine was "..designed by Steve Ritchie, formerly of Williams.. [and creator of] Black Knight, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Firepower, and High Speed." The UK Pinball News site has a review of the pintable with plenty more pictures, but concludes that, though fun, Stern's previous release, The Simpsons Pinball Party was probably more enjoyable.

Thanks to RetroGames for pointing to a new review of the Terminator 3 pinball machine from sole remaining pinball manufacturer Stern, which features "a Rocket Propelled Grenade launcher in the backglass" as its chief gimmick. Unfortunately, there's no actual high explosives, as "..this interactive mechanism fires balls into targets for high score and progressive game play", but the official product page does point out that this machine was "..designed by Steve Ritchie, formerly of Williams.. [and creator of] Black Knight, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Firepower, and High Speed." The UK Pinball News site has a review of the pintable with plenty more pictures, but concludes that, though fun, Stern's previous release, The Simpsons Pinball Party was probably more enjoyable.