STERN PINBALL INC.

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STERN PINBALL, INC. is the only manufacturer of coin-op pinball machines on the planet Earth today. Data East Pinball was incorporated in November of 1986. Sega bought Data East Pinball in 1994. STERN bought Sega Pinball in 1999. Gary Stern has been the President of the company throughout.
The STERN factory is housed in a single 40,000 sq. foot building in Melrose Park, IL.
Typical design time for a game is 1 year.
A typical design team consists of a game designer, software engineers, mechanical engineers, bill of materials personnel, artists, a sound engineer, a dot matrix display artist, and other complimentary staff.
STERN engineers use 3-D modeling to create many of the parts for a game.
STERN makes roughly 3 new models a year, with production supplemented by previously made models.
Employee core staff is 56 people, augmented by agency help on the factory floor.
STERN currently makes up to 55 games a day.
STERN pinball machines offer speech, dot matrix, manuals, and instruction cards in English, Spanish, French, Italian, and German. Spanish speech is also available is the U.S., and French speech in Canada.
*There is an average of 15 songs in a pinball machine.
*There are about 3500 parts in a pinball machine.
*There are about 1200 screws, nuts, and washers in a game.
*There are approx. 115 lights in a game.
*There can be up to 72 switches in a game.
*There can be up to 24 coils and 8 flash lamps in a game.
*There is about 1/2 mile of wire in a pinball machine.
*There are approx. 100 connectors in a game.
*There are approx. 357 tie wraps in a game.
*There are approx. 88 terminals in a game.
*There are about 33 assemblies in the game (e.g. flippers, slingshots, bumpers, etc.)
*According to Stern Pinball Co., the only remaining pinball maker in the world, the average machine contains about:Half a mile of wire.3,500 parts.1,200 screws, nuts and washers.115 lightsThrow in 70 switches, 100 connectors, 88 terminals and 357 tie wraps to hold it all together.The guts of a modern pinball machine look like multicolored angel hair pasta for 20.
Stern Pinball currenty builds machines with the current designers: Steve Ritchie & SRP, Pat Lawlor & PLD, Dennis Nordman, & George Gomez. Some of the master programmers are Keith Johnson, Lyman Sheats Dwight Sullivan, and Lonnie Ropp. Artists include, Kevin O'Conner, Margret Hudson, Jerry Venderstelt, John Youssi.
ORDER OFFICIAL STERN PINBALL SWAG AND VISIT PAT LAWLOR DESIGN AT THIS LINK.
Starting with WORLD POKER TOUR and games after have been designed with a whole new working board set system called S.A.M. This new system offers more working memory with better quality sound, graffics, and gameplay. Easy updates via the USB port offer operators easy access to latest software.
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Everybody's favorite Ogre is making his way to pinball! DreamWorks Animation's SHREK® franchise is the highest grossing animated movie franchise of all time and now has an officially-licensed pinball machine.Pat Lawlor Design, along with software and rules designers Lonnie Ropp and Mike Kyzivat, designed the SHREK pinball, featuring eye-popping, original art from John Youssi, newly elected Pinball Hall of Fame artist. Mark Galvez and Tom Kyzivat created original dot matrix display art for the pinball.The SHREK pinball machine's main feature is Donkey's mini-playfield, a small pinball playfield that sits in the upper right hand corner. It has mini-flippers that the player controls with the regular flipper buttons when the game is in ‘Donkey mini-playfield' mode. The mini-playfield has ramps and targets to shoot at while an actual Donkey figurine spins in front of the mini-playfield.Additional features on the game include: figurines of five SHREK characters, including Shrek, Donkey, Puss in Boots®, Princess Fiona and Gingy®. A mirror sculpture of Prince Charming sits in the center of the playfield and can be struck by the pinball. Two captive pinballs spell out P-I-N-B-A-L-L when hit; and SHREK also includes plenty of exciting multi-ball action."SHREK pinball has great depth and is fun and easy to understand for the casual player. This is a great game for both home owners and game operators," said Gary Stern, President of Stern Pinball.
This year, Wheel of Fortune, television's #1 syndicated series, celebrates its 25th Anniversary. Stern Pinball, Inc. honors this achievement with its newest pinball machine, WHEEL OF FORTUNE,,.
The WHEEL OF FORTUNE,, pinball machine is the perfect piece for all locations, especially street locations. In many bars the game show is shown 5 nights a week. It will also win over avid Wheel of Fortune viewers, including the 4 million members of the Wheel Watchers Club. This title will be extremely popular for home sales when operators complete their use of the game.
WHEEL OF FORTUNE,, pinball features original speech by Pat Sajak, host of the Wheel of Fortune television show, as well as Charlie O'Donnell, the show's announcer. Backglass art also features Pat Sajak and co-host Vanna White.
Dennis Nordman, Keith Johnson, and the engineering staff at Stern Pinball designed the WHEEL OF FORTUNE,, pinball machine.
The WHEEL OF FORTUNE,, pinball machine plays like the television game show. Pinball players start the game by spinning the wheel on the playfield, thus collecting points and/or prizes in their Prize Bank. Players must then hit the three bobble head contestants to collect consonants and vowels, to solve the puzzle on the dot matrix display. Once the puzzle is solved, the player collects the points and/or prizes in their Prize Bank.
The WHEEL OF FORTUNE,, pinball machine offers exciting features, including: 1. A mechanical spinning wheel on the playfield; 2. Three animated, bobble head contestants that call out puzzle letters when hit; 3. A dot matrix display in the backbox that shows the puzzle; 4. A mini dot matrix display in the playfield that directs the player during gameplay; 5. Challenging in-line drop targets; and 6.Lots of multi-ball action.
Kevin O'Connor and Margaret Hudson created the art for WHEEL OF FORTUNE,,, while David Thiel did the sound.
Dennis Nordman says, "Everyone will easily comprehend the basic rules of this game, solving puzzles that appear in the dot matrix display. It's classic ‘complete a sequence' pinball."
Gary Stern says, "WHEEL OF FORTUNE,, is a great game designed by great designers. Dennis last did our Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean and Keith is responsible for the rules of The Simpsons,,/Pinball Party and The Lord of the Rings,,."
May 10, 2007- Stern Pinball, Inc. is releasing its newest pinball machine, SPIDER-MAN,,. Designed by Steve Ritchie, Lyman Sheats, and the engineering staff at Stern Pinball, the pinball machine takes Spider-Man,,, Spider-Man,, 2, Spider-Man,, 3 and puts them all into one fast-paced pinball machine that will excite both operators and homeowners.
In the SPIDER-MAN,, pinball machine, you are Spider-Man. Your goal is to defeat the villains from all three movies: Green Goblin from Spider-Man,,, Doc Ock from Spider-Man,, 2, and Sandman and Venom from Spider-Man,, 3. There are detailed, vibrant toys of each of the four villains on the playfield with an associated shot. Defeat all four villains and experience Battle Royale!
The pinball machine offers incredible features, including: Doc Ock’s magnet that simulates a “Fusion Malfunction” by holding the ball; Green Goblin hovering on his glider above Pumpkin Bomb targets; Venom’s ramp that quickly feeds the ball back to the left flipper; Sandman’s whirlwind of targets and a motor 3-bank at the center of the playfield; and a whole lot of amazing multi-ball action.
Steve Ritchie says, “Many hours have gone into the making of SPIDER-MAN,, pinball machine. Lyman Sheats has created a set of elegant yet simple rules that anyone can learn in a few plays. SPIDER-MAN,, pinball is a game of speed, flow and constant action and excitement. Lyman and I have wanted to make a Spider-Man pinball since forever, and it contains the best work and ideas of many people who work at Stern Pinball. We are extremely pleased with the results, and we think you will be, too!”
Kevin O’Connor created the backglass and playfield art, while Marc Schoenberg and Mark Galvez produced the cabinet art. The pinball machine has a phenomenal music and a sound package composed and adapted by David Thiel, along with over 800 speech calls. The dot matrix animations created by Mark Galvez are stunning and feature scenes from Spider-Man,,, Spider-Man,, 2, and Spider-Man,, 3 movies. Earning very well and eminently collectable, SPIDER-MAN,, pinball from Stern is a solid and entertaining package that will rock the pinball universe.
The SPIDER-MAN,, pinball machine will begin shipping in May 2007.
To get your SPIDER-MAN,, pinball machine, contact your nearest Stern Pinball distributor. You can also contact Jolly Backer at 1-708-786-7039 or by e-mail at [email protected], or Shelley Sax at 1-708-786-7030 or by e-mail at [email protected].
To learn more about SPIDER-MAN 3, visit http://www.spiderman3.sonypictures.com/. To learn more about Stern Pinball, visit www.sternpinball.com.
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STERN PINBALL PRODUCTION NUMBERS. Note:All numbers are purely estimates gathered by information from many sources. Stern Pinball, Incorporated, of Chicago, Illinois, USA (1999) [Trade Name: Stern]
2008-05 Indiana Jones *John Borg
2008-03 Shrek ® *Pat Lawlor Design
2007-10 Wheel Of Fortune *Dennis Nordman/Keith Johnson
2007-09 NASCAR ® Dale Earnhardt Jr. Limited Edition ~600
2007-05 Spider-Man Stern *Steve Ritchie/Lyman Sheats
2007-02 Family Guy Stern *Pat Lawlor/Dwight Sullivan/Keith Johnson/Lonnie Ropp
2006-07 Pirates of the Caribbean Stern ~4,000 *Dennis Nordman/Dwight Sullivan
2006-02 World Poker Tour,, ~3,000 *Steve Ritchie/Keith Johnson
2005-02 The Sopranos® Stern ~3,500 *George Gomez
2005-08 NASCAR® Stern ~3,500+ *Pat Lawlor
2005 Grand Prix Stern ~500 *Pat Lawlor
2004-08 Elvis® Stern ~3,500+ *Steve Ritchie
2004-03 Ripley's Believe It or Not!® Stern ~2,750 *Pat Lawlor
2003-06 Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines Stern ~2,500 *Steve Ritchie
2003-12 The Lord of the Rings Stern SS ~5,817+ *George Gomez/Keith Johnson
2003-02 The Simpsons Pinball Party Stern ~5,900 *Keith Johnson
2002-11 Harley-Davidson® (2nd Edition) Stern SS ~600
2002-08 RollerCoaster Tycoon Stern ~2,500 *Pat Lawlor
2002-01 Playboy® Stern ~1,400 *George Gomez
2001-11 NFL Stern
2001-09 Monopoly,, Stern SS ~3,850 + *Pat Lawlor
2001-06 Austin Powers,, Stern *Lonnie Ropp/John Borg
2001-01 High Roller Casino Stern *Keith Johnson
2000-09 Sharkey's Shootout Stern *John Borg
2000-01 Striker Xtreme Stern
1999 Harley-Davidson® Stern *Lonnie Ropp
CLASSIC STERN pinball games. Stern Electronics, Incorporated, of Chicago, Illinois, USA (1977-1984) [Trade Name: Stern]
1977-04 Rawhide Stern EM
1977-08 Pinball Stern EM 594
1977-08 Pinball Stern SS 1,694
1977-12 Stingray Stern SS 3,066
1977-06 Disco Stern EM 815
1978-03 Stars Stern SS 5,127
1978-06 Memory Lane Stern SS 2,624
1978-08 Lectronamo Stern SS 2,423
1978-10 Wild Fyre
1978-11 Nugent Stern SS 2,671
1979-01 Dracula Stern SS 3,612
1979-03 Trident Stern SS 4,019
1979-06 Hot Hand Stern SS 4,117
1979-08 Magic Stern SS 2,466
1979-08 Cosmic Princess Stern SS 336
1979-09 Meteor Stern SS 8,362
1980-03 Ali Stern SS 2,971 4p
1980-03 Big Game Stern SS 2,713 Widebody 4p
1980-06 Cheetah Stern SS 1,223 Widebody
1980-01 Galaxy Stern SS 5,150
1980-05 Seawitch Stern SS 2,503
1980-06 Quicksilver Stern SS 1,201
1980-08 Star Gazer Stern SS 869
1980-10 Flight 2000 Stern SS 6,301 Widebody
1980-12 Nine Ball Stern SS 2,279
1981-01 Freefall Stern SS 1,300 Widebody
1981-03 Lightning Stern SS 2,350
1981-08 Split Second Stern SS Widebody
1981-10 Catacomb Stern SS 4p
1981-10 Iron Maiden Stern SS ~1,200 Widebody
1981-12 Viper Stern SS Widebody
1982 Cue Stern SS 6
1982-01 Dragonfist Stern SS
1982-02 Orbitor 1 Stern SS 889 Widebody
???? Pentogram Stern
1984-10 Lazer Lord Stern SS 1
Coming soon...Spiderman