# Review of the Year

**Source:** Pinball News Website  
**Type:** article  
**Published:** 2000-11-01  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.pinballnews.com/news/roty2001.html

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## Analysis

Pinball News' year-end review for 2001 covers Stern Pinball's strategic shift to licensed themes (High Roller Casino, Austin Powers, Monopoly), industry challenges including the closure of Electrical Windings after 60 years, cost-cutting at Stern, and the emergence of digital pinball simulators (Visual Pinball, Visual PinMAME). The article establishes Stern's outsourcing design model and Pat Lawlor Design partnership as key business developments.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] High Roller Casino showed continuing improvement over Striker Xtreme and Sharkey's Shootout in gameplay, construction and enjoyment — _Pinball News direct statement from their review_
- [HIGH] Electrical Windings closed after more than 60 years (founded in 1937) due to decline in game numbers — _Factual announcement of industry closure in March 2001_
- [HIGH] Austin Powers was Stern's breakthrough game that showed how a popular theme can boost sales and attract players — _Direct statement: 'This was Stern's breakthrough game'_
- [HIGH] Gary Stern stated intention to use long-term, classic licences rather than ones that come and go — _Direct quote from Gary Stern_
- [HIGH] Pat Lawlor Design agreed to make another pinball game for Stern with expected delivery around October 2002 — _Direct announcement from Pat Lawlor at Expo_
- [HIGH] Visual Pinball and Visual PinMAME enabled players to make and download custom games for free — _Pinball News factual observation of digital simulation popularity_
- [HIGH] In July, three members of Stern's game design team left and twelve hourly-paid workers were made redundant — _Cost-cutting announcement at Stern's Melrose Park facility_
- [MEDIUM] Pinball is currently seen as uneconomic and unreliable by European operators due to gaming law changes — _Industry observation about European market conditions_

### Notable Quotes

> "Our strategy is to stick with long-term, classic licences, rather than ones that come and go."
> — **Gary Stern**, Not specified
> _Establishes Stern's strategic pivot toward licensed IP as core business model_

> "We will continue with outsourced designers."
> — **Gary Stern**, July 2001
> _Confirms Stern's shift to outsourced design partnerships rather than in-house design team_

> "This was Stern's breakthrough game."
> — **Pinball News**, 2001
> _Characterizes Austin Powers as transformative for Stern's commercial success_

> "The reputations and strategies of both PLD and Stern were riding on this."
> — **Pinball News**, 2001
> _Establishes the high stakes of the Pat Lawlor Design partnership_

> "As ever in pinball, speculation as to the next game will be plentiful and some of it will be wrong."
> — **Pinball News**, December 28, 2001
> _Reflects on the rumor-driven nature of pinball community discourse_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Stern Pinball | company | Major pinball manufacturer releasing High Roller Casino, Austin Powers, and Monopoly in 2001; implementing cost-cutting and outsourcing design strategy |
| Pat Lawlor Design | company | Outsourced design partnership with Stern; designed Monopoly (2001) and agreed to produce second game for Stern (expected October 2002) |
| Gary Stern | person | Stern Pinball leadership; announced licensed theme strategy and outsourced design model; oversaw cost-cutting in July 2001 |
| Pat Lawlor | person | Designer/owner of Pat Lawlor Design; partnering with Stern for Monopoly and subsequent games |
| High Roller Casino | game | Stern's third game of 2001; premiered at IMA Neuremberg and ATEI London; showed improvement over earlier Stern titles |
| Austin Powers | game | Stern's second game of 2001; first licensed theme game; described as breakthrough title that boosted sales and attracted operators |
| Monopoly | game | Pat Lawlor Design collaboration with Stern; released in 2001; popular with home buyers and operators; potentially delayed subsequent games |
| Striker Xtreme | game | Earlier Stern game compared unfavorably to High Roller Casino |
| Sharkey's Shootout | game | Earlier Stern game compared unfavorably to High Roller Casino |
| Electrical Windings | company | Historic pinball parts supplier founded in 1937; closed in March 2001 after 60+ years supplying coils, transformers, and components |
| Donal Murphy | person | Founder/owner of Electrical Windings; company closed in 2001 |
| Illinois Pinball | company | Issued open letter in May 2001 about spare parts orders and Williams license deal |
| Gene Cunningham | person | Owner of Illinois Pinball; negotiated parts and rights deal with Williams |
| Visual Pinball | product | Free digital pinball simulation software enabling custom game creation and downloads |
| Visual PinMAME | product | Free emulation software paired with Visual Pinball enabling play of classic pinball games on keyboard |
| Pinball News | organization | Independent pinball media outlet; published first full reviews of High Roller Casino and Monopoly; reported from major shows (ATEI, Dutch Pinball Open, Pinball Expo); site size doubled in 2001 |
| Larry DeMar | person | Former Williams Head of Pinball Engineering; in talks with Gary Stern about designing a game (talks came to naught) |
| Mike Myers | person | Creator of Austin Powers character; basis for Stern pinball game |
| ATEI Show | event | London arcade/gaming trade show where High Roller Casino debuted |
| IMA Show | event | Neuremberg gaming show where High Roller Casino premiered |
| Pinball Expo | event | Major pinball industry event where Pat Lawlor announced second game deal with Stern |
| Dutch Pinball Open | event | Pinball tournament covered by Pinball News |
| Michael Burke | person | Competition winner from New Zealand (April 2001 Pinball News giveaway) |
| Peter Hall | person | Competition winner from England (April 2001 Pinball News giveaway) |

### Signals

- **[business_signal]** Electrical Windings closure after 64 years signals industry consolidation and parts supply vulnerability (confidence: high) — Founded 1937, closed March 2001; decline in game numbers cited as cause; provided coils, transformers, and sundry components
- **[business_signal]** Stern implementing cost-cutting and outsourced design model; three design team members left in July 2001 with twelve hourly workers made redundant (confidence: high) — Direct reporting of July 2001 redundancies at Melrose Park facility; Gary Stern's stated intention to continue outsourced designers
- **[licensing_signal]** Stern pivoting to long-term licensed themes as core business strategy rather than original IP (confidence: high) — Gary Stern quote: 'Our strategy is to stick with long-term, classic licences, rather than ones that come and go'
- **[market_signal]** European market conditions deteriorating; pinball seen as uneconomic and unreliable by operators due to gaming law changes (confidence: medium) — Article notes 'pinball is unpopular with operators' and 'currently seen as an uneconomic and unreliable form of gaming' in Europe
- **[announcement]** Pat Lawlor Design contracted for second Stern game expected around October 2002 (confidence: high) — Direct announcement from Pat at Expo; rumored to be Simpsons game but unconfirmed
- **[sentiment_shift]** Austin Powers represented breakthrough moment for Stern's commercial strategy and player appeal (confidence: high) — Explicitly stated 'This was Stern's breakthrough game' and detailed commercial success with both operators and players
- **[technology_signal]** Digital pinball simulation (Visual Pinball/PinMAME) gaining significant community adoption as free alternative to physical machines (confidence: high) — Article notes popularity 'rocketed' and packages are 'totally free'; players can now access 'almost any game from recent years'

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## Transcript

Story dated 28th December, 2001

Welcome
to this, our second annual review of the past year in pinball - and
what a year it's been.

We
started with January's launch of Stern's third game - High
Roller Casino. The game premiered at the IMA show in Neurenberg,
Germany and appeared again a few days later at the ATEI show in London.
Naturally, we had the first full review of the game.

We
were happy to report that the game shows a continuing improvement
over the earlier Striker Xtreme
and Sharkey's Shootout in
terms of game play, construction and enjoyment.

Although
HRC was still at the prototype stage in January, when it started production
some important and welcome changes
were made to improve the rules and game operation.

March saw the end of an era as Electrical
Windings closed its doors after more than 60 years servicing the
pinball industry. Donal Murphy's company supplied coils, transformers
and sundry other parts but the decline in game numbers finally took
its toll and the firm - founded in 1937 - shut up shop.

In April we ran our first birthday
competition with a bunch of prizes up for grabs. The lucky winners
were Michael Burke from New Zealand and Peter Hall from Robert Englunds. Will
there be another great giveaway in 2002? That would be telling!

Gaming laws across Europe have been changing with a move away from
gambling devices but sadly this has been at a time when pinball is
unpopular with operators, leading to other types of amusement devices
filling the void. Hopefully, Stern's newest games will help repair
the reputation of pinball - currently seen as an uneconomic and unreliable
form of gaming.

In May, Illinois Pinball wrote an open letter
to the pinball community in an attempt to clarify the status of spare
parts orders and to outline the deal owner Gene Cunningham made with
William's to buy certain rights and parts. Even now, the exact details
of the deal remain obscured but the fact remains that parts are shipping,
though you do have to order them through the old William's network
of distributors.

The second new game of
the year appeared first in the US and then very soon after in the
UK. Austin Powers was
the first game to follow Gary Stern intention to use licensed themes
for future games. "Our
strategy is to stick with long-term, classic licences, rather than
ones that come and go."
he said.

Based on the eponymous
British spy created by Mike Myers, the game was well received by operators
and players alike. This was Stern's breakthrough game. It showed how
a popular theme can not only boost sales but attract the fickle player
to a familiar and welcoming game. The game sold well and may yet reappear
when the third movie in the series hits the screens in Summer 2002.

While sales were good, they were not enough to stop a cost-cutting
exercise at Stern's Melrose Park facility. In July, three members
of the game design team left while Gary stern avowed his intention
to work out more deals like the one with Pat Lawlor Design. "We
will continue with outsourced designers." he said. Pinball News
revealed that Gary had been in talks with Larry DeMar, former William's
Head of Pinball Engineering about designing a game. So far those talks
have come to naught but that may change in time. In the meantime,
twelve hourly-paid workers - believed to be employed in game manufacture
- were made redundant.

So
what was to become of that deal with Pat Lawlor Design? It was announced
back in November 2000 that they would be
producing a game for Stern and finally we received the first pictures
of the resulting game.

Monopoly
made a big splash when it first appeared, and once again we had the
first full review of the game. The game had to be popular for so many
reasons. The reputations and strategies of both PLD and Stern were
riding on this. Fortunately for all concerned the game proved very
popular with many home sales adding to the order books.

There was much anticipation
when the PLD deal was announced, just as there was when Pat revealed
at Expo that the company
has agreed to make another pinball game for Stern. We can expect that
around October 2002.

But if real games were selling well, computer simulations were doing
even better. Visual Pinball brought
us the means to make our own games and download other people's. Visual
PinMAME - when added to Visual Pinball - gave us the chance to play
all our favourite games from the comfort of our keyboards. The popularity
of these two packages rocketed and you can now play almost any game
from recent years. Best of all - like Pinball News - it's totally
free.

For us here at Pinball News it's certainly been a busy year. We've
reported in depth from the ATEI
show, the Dutch Pinball
Open and Pinball Expo
and brought you the first and the fullest reviews of the new games
from Stern. The size of the site has more than doubled in the last
12 months and we've introduced audio
clips from the keynote speakers at Pinball Expo.

What can we expect from
2002? For a start we should get Stern's latest game early in the year,
possibly at IMA/ATEI but perhaps Monopoly is holding up the next game?
Rumours suggest it will be a Playboy themed game and that the next
game will be another Simpsons game. We should also get Pat Lawlor
Design's new game. Will that be the Simpsons game?

As ever in pinball, speculation
as to the next game will be plentiful and some of it will be wrong.
We'll continue to filter out the rumour and bring you the facts, the
reviews and the reports.

In
the meantime, Pinball News wishes you a very happy and prosperous
2002.

Back
to the news index

Back

to the front page

©
Pinball News 2002

_(Acquisition: raw_text, Enrichment: v1)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-06-06 | Item ID: 6b19b0c7-fd20-48df-9501-d80b854012fc*