Your favourite pinball manufacturer

[bluenose79]

Ok guys don't shoot me down if this question has already been asked, which I'm sure it has, but anyway who is yours?

For me it has to be Williams.

The amount of fun tables they produced is unreal. I'm liking Jesey Jack now, think they have made Stern up there game now

 

[Rudy Yagov]

99% of people will say Williams, Bally, or both, since they were the same company after the late 80s.

 

[norbert26]

in the '82 era bally. in the DMD era it didn't really matter as it all seemed the same.

 

[Kolchak357]

Pre DMD - definitely Gottlieb for me just for the wedge head era alone. Love the easy to understand rules and tough to accomplish goals.

DMD modern era - Stern

Before you bash me for saying Stern take a look at variety of pins Stern has released in the DMD era. Lots of fun pins in there; AC/DC, Metallica, Tron, Spider-Man, Family Guy, LOTR, Simpsons, POTC, Elvis, Iron Man, NASCAR, and the Sopranos. All games I enjoy playing. I love many Bally & Williams games, and they were built better, but I actually would say Stern.

 

[SKILL_SHOT]

Im a Williams Kid!

 

[shutyertrap]

Williams
Bally
Stern (post 2000)
Capcom
Data East
Sega
Gottlieb

In that order. Actually Sega and Data East could flip flop and I wouldn't notice the difference.

 

[Rudy Yagov]

Williams
Bally
Stern (post 2000)
Capcom
Data East
Sega
Gottlieb

In that order. Actually Sega and Data East could flip flop and I wouldn't notice the difference.

What about Zaccaria and Alvin G?

 

[Captain B. Zarre]

Alvin G is awesome! Mystery Castle FTW! DOOOOOOOOOOMMMMM!






And Bally-Williams.

 

[Fungi]

Williams. Ever since High Speed. I've diddle daddled with machines since the early 70's, but once High Speed was released, pinball became more than just drop targets and bumpers.

 

[shutyertrap]

What about Zaccaria and Alvin G?

Not even going to acknowledge those! I honestly couldn't tell you the name of one machine from them.

 

[Man-Machine]

Williams or Bally.

 

[k88dad]

Some of my favorite tables are from Williams, but I have to go with Bally. Paragon and Eight Ball Deluxe are two of my all-time favorites. Centaur and Fathom are fantastic. If we include the Bally/Midway/Williams era then the list of pins with Bally on the backglass is staggering. The Addams Family, The Shadow, Twilight Zone, Attack from Mars, Cirqus Voltaire, Theatre of Magic... Wow!

 

[netizen]

When i played more physical pinball back in the day I honestly never paid attention to the manufacturer of the games I liked. I just played for the fun of it, looked for games that I would enjoy or had something novel or different; even if that meant risking a quarter on a really crappy game.

However, looking back it seems that where I lived had mostly Gottlieb and Bally machines throughout the 80s, and of course come the 90s I don't think there was much selection but Bally/Williams with the occasional Gottlieb still kicking around, depending on location and the owner/operator preference.

 

[Bowflex]

Before they combined, I would favor Bally over Williams and once they merged they were, for all intents and purposes, the same company and the industry leader by a giant margin in term of quality and fun.

 

[Espy]

I find myself most attracted to Bally on TPA, even over Williams despite them being the same company for a long time. Have never really figured out why.

 

[jaredmorgs]

Alvin G is awesome! Mystery Castle FTW! DOOOOOOOOOOMMMMM!






And Bally-Williams.

And Alvin G Soccerball! Like Williams' Joust

 

[jaredmorgs]

For me, Bally/Williams are equal first (for the 90's era releases). Innovation city in this era for both brands.

Then, although they had a short run, it is Capcom for me. Fantastic audio when cranked. Unique toys. Unusual themes (tube dancer FTW). Hard to come by here in Aussie unfortunately. Only got to play them at trade shows. :-(

Then DMD Gottlieb/Premier tables. Robust hardware. Dependable game play (shoot the strobing lights). Some interesting themes.

Then Data East and Sega and STERN. Sigh. Different names, but same gameplay. Cheap and nasty toys that broke constantly. Crappy flipper tech until Last Action Hero, where EOS switches were considered a "good idea" by management. Samey gameplay on data east and STERN.