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I believe Stern Pinball is the only remaining one; they come out with a couple of different games each year. A couple of friends of mine have companies that sell and service machines (Chicagoland and California); I'm not sure how much is new ones vs. old but I've played a fair number of the newer machines and they're pretty nice (better in my opinion than the Pinball 2000 stuff that Williams was trying). The Simpsons Pinball Party and The Lord Of The Rings ones (both Stern) are pretty impressive still.

Stern Pinball is the largest pinball manufacturer and produces about three new games a year. AC/DC is Stern's latest release. While Stern has been around for a long time, several other companies have started up recently.

Jersey Jack Pinball is about to go into production of Wizard of Oz in mid march. They've put a lot into this game and it's looking amazing. It's a wide body game with a 26" LCD, dual upper playfields, tons of toys, and a whole lot more.

Retro Pinball has begun shipping a reproduction of the Gottlieb's 1967 King of Diamonds built using modern technology.

MarsaPlay's New Canasta has been available in the Spanish market for a couple of years now.

John Popadiuk is working on a couple of small run, custom pinball machines for the high end collector market. The two games are Magic Girl and Ben Heck's Zombie Adventureland

Pinball appears to be making something of a comeback and it looks like 2012 could be one of the best years for pinball in a long time.

I believe Stern Pinball is the only remaining one; they come out with a couple of different games each year. A couple of friends of mine have companies that sell and service machines (Chicagoland and California); I'm not sure how much is new ones vs. old but I've played a fair number of the newer machines and they're pretty nice (better in my opinion than the Pinball 2000 stuff that Williams was trying). The Simpsons Pinball Party and The Lord Of The Rings ones (both Stern) are pretty impressive still.

Stern Pinball is the largest pinball manufacturer and produces about three new games a year. AC/DC is Stern's latest release. While Stern has been around for a long time, several other companies have started up recently.

Jersey Jack Pinball is about to go into production of Wizard of Oz in mid march. They've put a lot into this game and it's looking amazing. It's a wide body game with a 26" LCD, dual upper playfields, tons of toys, and a whole lot more.

Retro Pinball has begun shipping a reproduction of the Gottlieb's 1967 King of Diamonds built using modern technology.

MarsaPlay's New Canasta has been available in the Spanish market for a couple of years now.

John Popadiuk is working on a couple of small run, custom pinball machines for the high end collector market. The two games are Magic Girl and Ben Heck's Zombie Adventureland

Pinball appears to be making something of a comeback and it looks like 2012 could be one of the best years for pinball in a long time.

So I guess you never heard about Stern Pinball?

http://www.ipdb.org/search.pl?any=lotr&search=Sear ch+Database&searchtype=quick
http://www.sternpinball.com/Lord-of-the-Rings.shtm l
and it is a good game you can play it on your pc with vp + vpinmame.

While games have often regarded more as promotion for movies than as products in themselves, it is becoming clear that a successful game can be a major source of profit. A positive aspect of this is that game releases are no longer so tightly coupled to major movie releases. The rush to release a game in synchrony with the movie often results in mediocre titles.

I can back that up. I have the perfect example, albeit in the opposite temporal direction (in relation to the movie release date) than what might be expected: Lord of the Rings Pinball by STERN.

I played the hell out of this game _long before_ Return of the King hit theatres and the pinball game features audio (sound fx and voices) from all three movies. The twists? It's a pinball game. What do you mean 'Off topic'? Don't split hairs with me, punk! It's a twist, damnit. The other twist, it's based on a book (trilogy, whatever, what did I say about spliting hairs?) not a movie... originally... but it has audio taken from the movie... but the movie is based on... nevermind. Still need another twist? It's LOTR, dude, STFU.

BTW, coming from a pinball aficionado (read 'seasoned pinball ninja'), this is by far THE BEST PINBALL GAME EVAR! If you've played it and disagree, well then you're just jealous because you can't touch my high score!

They can even put out press releases in the future!

http://www.sternpinball.com/PR_210405.shtml

from the tour: http://www.sternpinball.com/tour.shtml

" Linux users click here to download Windows Media Players.: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/down load/default.asp

They actually sell their monopoly, so I don't think that laws apply.

As our Anonymous Coward friend says, STERN Pinball is still producing games. You are correct that Williams, who was the only one at the time, shut down. Since then, though, others have stepped up. Illinois Pinball Company (which doesn't appear to have a website) bought the rights to all the WMS games, and supposedly plans to rerelease some of them at some point.

Why not buy a pinball machine?

The new "Lord Of The Rings" game is out, and it's available for roughly $4,000.00 from local distributors. It's said to be the best Stern pinball game to date (Stern is the only pinball manufacturer still standing).

http://www.sternpinball.com/LordoftheRings.htm

It's the perfect antidote to looking at video screens all day. Pinball is popular here in the Bay Area because so many people stare at monitors all day and don't want to be entertained simply by staring at another monitor!

And, in a dark room, the gentle twinkling of the pinball machine's lights (when it isn't being played) is almost like a Christmas tree.... :)

I, for one, actually consider this news. The creation of a brand new pinball machine when most arcades subsist on "sit down driving games" and "light gun games" is a fortunate thing indeed. Now if I could only find a place that has them. Oh wait.

On the other hand, Stern is no Midway. A lot of their games have fairly uninspiring themes/designs IMHO (Roller Coaster Tycoon). And while they've finally gotten better parts for their recent machines, they do have pretty shoddy quality control. My Simpsons Pinball Party (TSPP) had such "powerful" flippers (Stern's older machine's were notorious for weak flippers) that they would shake when you held the flipper button down. This was due to a misalignment in the flipper coil. It came from the factory this way! Stern "tech support" gave the following suggestion to fix it: hit it (the flipper coil) with a hammer. Uh, yeah... I'm sure there won't be any more problems with the machine after I whack it with a blunt object a few times.

"What are you going to do with that hammer?"
"Mongo fixing pinball!"

Speaking of TSPP, they say in the article that the same designer is doing the Lord of the Rings pin. I hope they do a better job making it clear what the player has to do to score points then they did with TSPP. There's a fine line between a deep ruleset, and simply confusing the player. TSPP is a fine game for home use, because you get to take the time to learn its rules and idiosyncrasies. If I was playing it in an arcade, I doubt I would have taken the time to figure it all out.

That said, Stern is getting better and better with every new machine. It takes guts to stick in a market that everyone else has abandoned. I wish them the best of luck and hope they keep making new pins.

I, for one, actually consider this news. The creation of a brand new pinball machine when most arcades subsist on "sit down driving games" and "light gun games" is a fortunate thing indeed. Now if I could only find a place that has them. Oh wait.

On the other hand, Stern is no Midway. A lot of their games have fairly uninspiring themes/designs IMHO (Roller Coaster Tycoon). And while they've finally gotten better parts for their recent machines, they do have pretty shoddy quality control. My Simpsons Pinball Party (TSPP) had such "powerful" flippers (Stern's older machine's were notorious for weak flippers) that they would shake when you held the flipper button down. This was due to a misalignment in the flipper coil. It came from the factory this way! Stern "tech support" gave the following suggestion to fix it: hit it (the flipper coil) with a hammer. Uh, yeah... I'm sure there won't be any more problems with the machine after I whack it with a blunt object a few times.

"What are you going to do with that hammer?"
"Mongo fixing pinball!"

Speaking of TSPP, they say in the article that the same designer is doing the Lord of the Rings pin. I hope they do a better job making it clear what the player has to do to score points then they did with TSPP. There's a fine line between a deep ruleset, and simply confusing the player. TSPP is a fine game for home use, because you get to take the time to learn its rules and idiosyncrasies. If I was playing it in an arcade, I doubt I would have taken the time to figure it all out.

That said, Stern is getting better and better with every new machine. It takes guts to stick in a market that everyone else has abandoned. I wish them the best of luck and hope they keep making new pins.

I wouldn't group Stern's new machines together with the old Data East machines. I'd agree with you wholeheartedly that the DE machines were certainly a long way behind the Williams/Bally/Gottleib meta-brand in the 90s, but after Gary Stern's buy-out of the division in 99 the newer games have been top-notch. Playability, features, rule-depth and feel have all been on a par if not superior to the last of the WMS machines (except, of course, the next-generation Pinball 2000 video hybrids).

In fact, Stern tables just seem to keep getting better, and more people appear to be pumping quarters into the games. Hopefully the new Terminator 3 game should continue the upwards curve, especially with former WMS designers like Steve Ritchie and the legendary Pat Lawlor working with Stern.

While pingames certainly aren't doing as well as they once were, reports of the death of pinball are certainly premature. There is still a big pinball market outside of the US, which Stern (the only remaining manufacturer) is happy to serve.

Domestically, the market is shifting from arcades (where the games are seldom adequately maintained) to collectors, and the folks at Stern have realized that, modifying their design efforts to appeal more to collectors. One of their latest games, "Monopoly" (designed by the legendary Pat Lawlor, who also designed "Fun House," "Addams Family," and "Twilight Zone," among others), has been a tremendous success, to the point of extending its productions run...

While pingames certainly aren't doing as well as they once were, reports of the death of pinball are certainly premature. There is still a big pinball market outside of the US, which Stern (the only remaining manufacturer) is happy to serve.

Domestically, the market is shifting from arcades (where the games are seldom adequately maintained) to collectors, and the folks at Stern have realized that, modifying their design efforts to appeal more to collectors. One of their latest games, "Monopoly" (designed by the legendary Pat Lawlor, who also designed "Fun House," "Addams Family," and "Twilight Zone," among others), has been a tremendous success, to the point of extending its productions run...

With only one manufacturer of pinball tables remaining, pinball is really in a sad state. I've always been a fan of pinball, but in the last year, I doubt that I have gone more than a week without playing a game of pinball. Fortunately, a local college arcade (Playland, downtown State College, Pa) has 9 tables, and the local arcade vendor usually keeps a few on campus in commons areas. I'm darn sure I've spent nearly $1000 in the last year playing, and my skill has been rapidly improving (I have many of the top score / Grand Master scores on the tables). I just can't get enough. I'm fortunate to have good arcade ops who keep the tables in good working condition, but many do not have such luck. I am desperately awaiting the release of Roller Coaster Tycoon, Stern's next table. They are still using the WhiteStar pinball MPU, which by now is quite dated.

I plan to soon start a Pinball enthusiast's club here at Penn State, but rather than being a club solely for playing / competing, I would much rather build a table. To save costs, many off-the-shelf compents will be used, and the game would be controlled by a PC (most likely running linux or the such) with custom interface hardware. The backglass could feature a full-color LCD for score and animations, and all playfield lamps would be LEDs. I think this would be a fun project, and anyone who is interested should email me. Of course, it would help the most if you lived near Penn State. I need not only computer/hardware people other than myself, but also artists, musicians, and people good with woodworking and metal crafts. Any suggestions?

For information on pinball in NYC you might want to look at the New York City Pinball Players and Owners Association web site. (Found via the Pinball Machine Links page at the Stern Pinball site.

For information on pinball in NYC you might want to look at the New York City Pinball Players and Owners Association web site. (Found via the Pinball Machine Links page at the Stern Pinball site.

There's only one company (Stern Pinball, Inc.) making pinball machines today.

You could always build one yourself.

It's sad really. I own a pool hall in a small town and pinball still registers decent coin drop (I have two machines). The problem is that the industry went a little crazy trying to catch up to video in the early 80s and the designs got too complicated and therefore, more expensive to purchase and maintain. Operators started abandoning them in droves near the end of the last century. When companies such as WMS (Bally/Williams/Atari Games), who owned two of the major pinball manufacturers, bailed out in early 2000, the death knell was sounded for the industry. Stern Pinball is still alive, having bought out Sega's pinball division (originally Data East Pinball), but most of their sales are to overseas distributors. The pins they sell in the US are basically writeoffs. It's a shame really. I think if the industry stuck to innovative, less complicated designs, it might still be thriving, rather than barely surviving.

It's sad really. I own a pool hall in a small town and pinball still registers decent coin drop (I have two machines). The problem is that the industry went a little crazy trying to catch up to video in the early 80s and the designs got too complicated and therefore, more expensive to purchase and maintain. Operators started abandoning them in droves near the end of the last century. When companies such as WMS (Bally/Williams/Atari Games), who owned two of the major pinball manufacturers, bailed out in early 2000, the death knell was sounded for the industry. Stern Pinball is still alive, having bought out Sega's pinball division (originally Data East Pinball), but most of their sales are to overseas distributors. The pins they sell in the US are basically writeoffs. It's a shame really. I think if the industry stuck to innovative, less complicated designs, it might still be thriving, rather than barely surviving.

The company that designed Monopoly is Pat Lawlor Design, comprised of the industry kingpins who made games like The Addams Family, Twilight Zone, Funhouse, No Good Gofers, and countless others (although not Monster Bash, sorry.) One of their software guys, Louis Koziarz, even wrote software for Taco's beloved JackBot. Check out their website as well as the Stern Pinball website.

Have you played the new Monopoly pinball table? Try to find one, it really is nice. Not perfect Williams, but it was developed by Pat Lawlor, who did Adam's Family.

Monopoly Pinball Info

Aside from that, hardly any pinball machines make money in todays world. Think about where the majority of p'ball machines end up, honky tonk pubs, and shit. Definitely not a money maker.

Not that very true as it sounds. Admittedly the industry seems to have various ideas on what the future of the pinball should be, Williams is very keen on Pinball 2000 concept, which is half video-arcade half pinball, while Stern has produced a few very, very fine "classical concept" games.

Also, I may be a dying breed, but I like pinball and I can't play the new pinball machines anywhere but at an arcade. There, at least, is a market (tiny as it is) that consoles can't usurp.

Um, I hate to be the one to tell you, but pinball isn't just dying. It's dead. Sega bailed out of the market. Capcom bailed out of the market. Even Bally/Williams has bailed out. The only company left making pins is Stern, and I've never actually seen a machine from them. (At least, not one made since they restarted the pinball division after Williams shut down.)

Yeah, it sucks. I was a programmer at Capcom Coin-Op (the pinball division) when the axe fell. I love pinball, but let's face it: From an operator's perspective it's a nightmare. The machines are expensive; they have a ton of moving parts which can break; they need constant maintenance (cleaning the playfield can be a bitch!); and they really only serve a niche market of hardcore fans.

Sigh. At least I have a Big Bang Bar in my basement to go play when I'm feeling depressed about the whole thing...

I'd love to see Pinball make a comeback!