Stern is the name of two different but related arcade gaming companies. Stern Electronics, Inc. manufactured arcade video games and pinball machines from 1977 until 1985, and was best known for Berzerk. Stern Pinball, Inc., founded in 1986 as Data East Pinball, is a manufacturer of pinball machines in North America.
Stern Electronics was formed when Sam and Gary Stern bought the financially troubled Chicago Coin in January 1977. Sam had previously owned the amusements manufacturer Williams, purchasing half of the company in 1947 and selling it to the Seeburg Corporation in 1964. Gary had trained under his father at Williams, and from 1973-1976 the two ran the company. Stern Electronics, Inc. acquired their core inventory by purchasing Chicago Coin's assets at bankruptcy sales; as a separate company, they did not assume any of the debt Chicago Coin had amassed.[1] In September 1977 it acquired Universal Research Laboratories after they went bankrupt a few months earlier.[2][3] Universal Research Laboratories manufactured circuit boards for Bally pinball machines, and then reverse engineered these for Stern, who were then sued by Bally.[4] An agreement to pay royalties was reached which by September 1981 totaled $700,000.[5]
The first two games made by Stern were Stampede and Rawhide, both originally made by Chicago Coin, which only had changes made to their branding and logos. After a weak start, Stern Electronics' sales started picking up by the end of 1977.[citation needed] They produced their first solid-state pinball machine, called Pinball that year.[6] By 1978, they had switched over to fully solid-state electronics for their games.[7] In July 1980, Stern acquired the jukebox production assets of the bankrupt Seeburg Corporation for $1.5 million.[3][8][9] Stern sought to increase sales in the declining jukebox market by modernizing machines with the addition of screens and customizable displays.[3]
Also in October of 1980, Stern purchased the August J. Johnson Co., a Bensenville, Ill.-based cabinet manufacturer.
When arcade video games became popular in 1980, Stern Electronics produced Berzerk, which sold 20,000 machines,[3] and stopped producing pinball machines in 1982.[6] However, Stern became one of many victims of the video game crash of 1983. They received financial support to continue operations from machine distributor Al Simon and sold Seeburg the following summer. In 1984, Sam Stern died and Stern Electronics closed on February 1, 1985.[10][6][1] From 1985 to 1986, personnel from Stern Electronics formed a venture known as Pinstar that produced conversion kits for old Bally and Stern machines, with Gary Stern continuing to function as president.[7] He then went on to help found Data East's pinball division and continued to lead there when it was acquired by Sega in 1994.[11][12] While Data East did operate out of the old Stern Electronics property, sources differ on whether they acquired the company or just the facilities.[1][13]
On March 16, 2023, Atari SA announced that it had acquired the intellectual property rights to 12 Stern Electronics titles, including Berzerk and Frenzy.[14]
Stern Pinball, Inc.
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2015 John Borg Kiss Stern Pinball Machine (Premium Version)
By 1999, the pinball industry was virtually dead.[15]Sega (which had acquired Data East Pinball in late 1994 and renamed it to Sega Pinball), left the pinball industry by spinning off their pinball division and selling it to Gary Stern, and Stern Pinball was born.[13] Stern Pinball became the only commercial pinball manufacturer left, but continued to struggle in the 2000s, producing just 10,000 machines per year and selling the majority of them overseas.[16][15]
As of 2023, longtime designers Brian Eddy, John Borg, and George Gomez are designing pinball games at Stern Pinball, alongside top-ranking competitive player Keith Elwin and popular pinball streamer Jack Danger.[17] Stern Pinball, Inc. is based in Elk Grove Village, Illinois.
Orbitor 1 (1982) (Featured a 3d-vacuum formed playfield with spinning rubber bumpers causing frenetic ball action; it was the company's last released game)[19]
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