machines that broke the mold

[budtki@verizon.net]

farsight seems to SPOTLIGHT specific machines from time to time that were responsible for significant contributions or break through advancements that evolved pinball into what it is today, one of those was gorgar(voice), the blackhole was another(although i wouldn't consider it's contrabution as significant) especially when you compare a sunken play area(blakhole) to the likes of rotating disks(fireball), or the first machine to incorporate multiball...i guess multiball would be one of the top advancements in the game, the other would have to be those plastic ramps..just think of all the early pinballs that did not employ ramps, then think of all the great machines since ramps were introduced, virtually every machine since then has some of these ramps... and so my question is, what machine was the very first to offer the plastic ramp...i believe the first machine i encountered with one of these ramps was THE COMET...am i correct? and if so, does farsight have plans to recreate this machine? the simplicity of a plastic ramp eroneously degrades it's inovative contribution when compared to the likes of the microchip, but if farsight was to continue it's tradition of recreating machines that defined an era, to me, it would have to be THE COMET.

 

[Sumez]

Biggest innovations imo, apart from basic assets like bumpers, slingshot/Italian layout, and flippers (though it would be cool to feature Humpty Dumpty), would be multiball (which is an old EM thing, explaining the need for a ball lock), ramps, ss circuits, wizard modes, and speech/feedback from the machine. It's incredible that ramps are such a new invention, considering the age of the game. They really add another layer... Literally

 

[Richard B]

Here's a few of the most significant "firsts":
First pinball machine with a bumper: Bally's Bumper (1936)
First pinball machine to use "jet bumpers" and locate the flippers at lower end of playfield: Williams' Saratoga (1948)
First pinball machine to use a ramp on playfield: Williams' Nine Sisters (1953)
First pinball machine to use drop targets: Williams' Vagabond (1962)
First pinball machine with multiball: Bally's Balls-a-Poppin' (1956)
First pinball machine with multi-ball in the solid-state electronics era: Williams' Firepower (1980)
First pinball machine to use a microprocessor (first SS table): Mirco Games' Spirit of 76 (1975)
First pinball machine with an alpha-numeric display: Gottlieb's Chicago Cubs: Triple Play (1985)
First pinball machine with a dot matrix scoring display: Data East's Checkpoint (1991)
First pinball machine to feature a known celebrity voice (Cassandra Peterson - Elvira) especially recorded for the machine: Bally's Elvira and the Party Monsters (1989)
First pinball machine without a plunger (a trigger-operated gun is used instead), a cannon-launcher (player literally "shoots" captured pinball at targets), and first "standard" sized DMD: Williams' Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

 

[Punisher]

Here's a few of the most significant "firsts":
First pinball machine with a bumper: Bally's Bumper (1936)
First pinball machine to use "jet bumpers" and locate the flippers at lower end of playfield: Williams' Saratoga (1948)
First pinball machine to use a ramp on playfield: Williams' Nine Sisters (1953)
First pinball machine to use drop targets: Williams' Vagabond (1962)
First pinball machine with multiball: Bally's Balls-a-Poppin' (1956)
First pinball machine with multi-ball in the solid-state electronics era: Williams' Firepower (1980)
First pinball machine to use a microprocessor (first SS table): Mirco Games' Spirit of 76 (1975)
First pinball machine with an alpha-numeric display: Gottlieb's Chicago Cubs: Triple Play (1985)
First pinball machine with a dot matrix scoring display: Data East's Checkpoint (1991)
First pinball machine to feature a known celebrity voice (Cassandra Peterson - Elvira) especially recorded for the machine: Bally's Elvira and the Party Monsters (1989)
First pinball machine without a plunger (a trigger-operated gun is used instead), a cannon-launcher (player literally "shoots" captured pinball at targets), and first "standard" sized DMD: Williams' Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

Got anything about the first table to use a knocker or the first table that featured a wizard mode?

 

[Matt McIrvin]

I think The King's Ransom in Black Knight 2000 is often regarded as one of the first wizard modes, but I'm not sure if it was the first (it probably depends on definitions; for many early multiball tables, multiball was quite hard to get and was the wizard mode).

 

[Matt McIrvin]

...as TPA/PHoF players probably already know, Gorgar (1979) was the first with speech.

Firepower was not only the first solid-state multiball (and the one that made multiball a common feature), but also the first table with a player-controlled "lane change" feature for its rollover lanes. With the sequence of things you had to do to activate the locks and get multiball, it was groping toward the idea of having an overall storyline of sorts. I see it as the game that really established what pinball in the solid-state era was henceforth going to be like.

 

[pezpunk]

that's an interesting take. i can see that. it takes the game from simply hitting as many targets as possible before draining to making progress on varied goals (hitting targets or rollovers to light locks 1 through 3), with an eventual end reward (multiball).

it's a similar evolution early video games went through (and happened around the same time) -- Pac-Man and other arcade games of its ilk would continue indefinitely, generally repeating the same pattern of levels until some memory register overflowed (you can't really call "kill screens" a satisfying or feasible ending by modern standards). But in the early 80s, games like Crystal Castles and Super Mario Bros. brought a discrete resolution towards which to work. even if simply reaching a wizard mode (or saving the princess) doesn't mean you are la creme de la creme to the hardcore, reaching that goal still grants a sense of completion to the game or pinball table that was previously absent from both entertainment forms.

 

[Mark W**a]

Orbiter 1 broke the mold. A mold that should have never been broken IMO.

 

[pezpunk]

i hate to be "that guy" but i am unable to restrain myself from pointing out that the phrase "broke the mold" refers to the practice of destroying the tool you used to create a thing in order to insure its uniqueness -- the phrase is meant to express that there will never be another one like it. using it to refer to something groundbreaking and influential is a common mis-application of the idiom.

these machines we're talking about are sort of the opposite of breaking the mold: metaphorically, the "mold" these groundbreaking/influential machines were cast from would go on to be extremely well-used in the future.

now, on the other hand, Orbiter might be a good example of a machine whose creators "broke the mold", if only to ensure nothing followed in its footsteps.

 

[Mark W**a]

Ahh that makes much sense actually.

So my joke is actually the best response in the thread!

Then I guess Pac-Man and Mario Bros pinball would be good examples. Or No Fear, or Banzai Run.

 

[Fungi]

I think The Pinball Circus defines it pretty well.

 

[Sean DonCarlos]

First pinball machine without a plunger...: Williams' Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

Bally's Spectrum (1982) has no plunger. Balls are launched using the right flipper, which causes the table to launch a ball out of the center drain onto the playfield.

 

[Richard B]

Bally's Spectrum (1982) has no plunger. Balls are launched using the right flipper, which causes the table to launch a ball out of the center drain onto the playfield.

Looks like my sources were wrong on that one.

 

[Richard B]

that's an interesting take. i can see that. it takes the game from simply hitting as many targets as possible before draining to making progress on varied goals (hitting targets or rollovers to light locks 1 through 3), with an eventual end reward (multiball).

it's a similar evolution early video games went through (and happened around the same time) -- Pac-Man and other arcade games of its ilk would continue indefinitely, generally repeating the same pattern of levels until some memory register overflowed (you can't really call "kill screens" a satisfying or feasible ending by modern standards). But in the early 80s, games like Crystal Castles and Super Mario Bros. brought a discrete resolution towards which to work. even if simply reaching a wizard mode (or saving the princess) doesn't mean you are la creme de la creme to the hardcore, reaching that goal still grants a sense of completion to the game or pinball table that was previously absent from both entertainment forms.

Wizard Modes arent so much completions, but serve as a way to earn an obscene amount of points. Despite all the evolutions pinball has seen, one thing that hasn't changed is the objective -to get a high score. Conversely, many videogames have done away with score completely.

 

[Alexanr1]

Black Knight was the first pin with a two level playfield.
Haunted House with the first pin with a three level playfield.

 

[ER777]

Wizard Modes arent so much completions, but serve as a way to earn an obscene amount of points. Despite all the evolutions pinball has seen, one thing that hasn't changed is the objective -to get a high score. Conversely, many videogames have done away with score completely.

This is all true but there is also a sense of accomplishment in completing the type of wizard mode that can be won and lost. Take Medieval Madness as an example, winning Battle for the Kingdom for the first time certainly has a special feel to it beyond just the point value added to your score.

 

[Sean DonCarlos]

This is all true but there is also a sense of accomplishment in completing the type of wizard mode that can be won and lost. Take Medieval Madness as an example, winning Battle for the Kingdom for the first time certainly has a special feel to it beyond just the point value added to your score.

As someone who sank 120 hours into chasing Lost in the Zone on a real Twilight Zone, I wholeheartedly concur. Even though LITZ is not a wizard mode you can "lose", the sheer amount of effort it took to get there had me bouncing off the walls when I finally made it.

 

[Matt McIrvin]

Bally's Spectrum (1982) has no plunger. Balls are launched using the right flipper, which causes the table to launch a ball out of the center drain onto the playfield.

Something similar happens with the pinball half of Baby Pac-Man (also Bally/Midway, also 1982), though that's a very special case.

 

[Animator_pin_fan]

I think The Pinball Circus defines it pretty well.

I second this. Pinball Circus is quite possibly one of the most unique pinball games in existence. And while it doesn't have the deepest rule set, it is truly challenging and gratifying to get the ball all the way up to the top level (something I've yet to accomplish).

 

[Animator_pin_fan]

And this one is also quite unique:

However, despite the upright form factor, the game's table is still horizontal- the player only sees a mirrored vertical image, but cool nonetheless.