# Pinball Expo Hall of Fame Inductions - Pinball Expo 2018 - Pinball News

**Source:** Pinball News (Pinball Expo 2018)  
**Type:** video  
**Published:** 2018-10-23  
**Duration:** 42m 26s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJwqeUPQE7k

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## Analysis

Pinball Expo 2018 Hall of Fame induction ceremony featuring multiple inductees: Martin (Pinball News founder), John Norris (game designer), Elliot Eisman (Stern mechanical engineer), and Ken Fedesna (legendary Williams pinball executive). The event celebrated Ken Fedesna's 40+ year career as the central figure who guided Williams through multiple industry crises, recruited and mentored the greatest concentration of pinball and video game talent in history, and enabled the creative culture that produced classics from Firepower to Addams Family.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Ken Fedesna was hired in February 1977 to design the first solid-state pinball system for Williams; within three months they had designed the system and had five Grand Prix test machines on route by Memorial Day — _Ken Fedesna's own remarks at the ceremony, speaking as the 2018 inductee_
- [HIGH] Hot Tip (September 1977) was Williams' first solid-state production game — _Ken Fedesna's ceremony remarks_
- [HIGH] Addams Family was the highest-selling pinball machine run in history, with approximately 22,000 units produced — _Ken Fedesna's remarks citing the game's production numbers from the 1989-1992 era_
- [HIGH] Ken Fedesna was instrumental in keeping Williams' pinball division alive during the 1982 industry slump caused by video game competition, devising a strategy to maintain operations at low levels rather than shut down completely — _Larry DeMar's induction speech describing Ken's role during the crisis_
- [HIGH] John Norris designed or contributed rules for over 20 games including Surfing Safari and Operation Thunder before returning to the industry with Deep Root Pinball — _Gary Flaherty's induction remarks for John Norris_
- [HIGH] Ken Fedesna's 'Army' of talent from Williams went on to lead major game studios and companies including Microsoft (Matt Booty), Google (Noah Falstein), and multiple independent studios — _Larry DeMar's extended remarks documenting Ken's mentees' subsequent careers_
- [HIGH] The final pinball machine was produced on November 22, 1999 (Star Trek Episode I), marking the end of Williams' pinball era — _Ken Fedesna's remarks closing his ceremony remarks_
- [HIGH] Steve Ritchie was recruited from Atari in 1978, where he had been designing Airborne Avenger — _Ken Fedesna's remarks on the company's talent recruitment_

### Notable Quotes

> "He's been tournament director for the UK... a great pinball player and great at making things happen."
> — **Gary Flaherty**, early in ceremony
> _Induction introduction for Martin from Pinball News, highlighting his community contributions_

> "I want more pinball all around the world for everyone to enjoy and that's all we're here for."
> — **Martin (Pinball News)**, after his induction
> _Statement of mission for independent pinball media coverage_

> "Ken was the steady center of all the great people, projects and permutations over the years, and he really enabled all of our accomplishments."
> — **Tom Cedar (sent remarks, not present)**, during Ken Fedesna induction
> _Peer assessment of Ken's central role at Williams_

> "Ken was the adult supervising neutron that kept the highly unstable element, Williamium, from blowing us all to hell."
> — **Eugene Jarvis (sent remarks, not present)**, during Ken Fedesna induction
> _Metaphorical description of Ken managing eccentric creative talent_

> "And it is staggering to see what is being accomplished by our scattered Army in the post-Williams era."
> — **Larry DeMar**, during Ken Fedesna induction
> _Summary of Ken's legacy measured by his mentees' continued impact across the video game and pinball industries_

> "Within three months, and I never would have believed this would happen, we designed the first solid-state system and had five Grand Prix's out on test on Memorial Day."
> — **Ken Fedesna**, during his induction remarks
> _Key founding moment of electronic pinball era at Williams, early 1977_

> "It was never, that was it. [Flash] set a whole new trend as far as pinball machines were concerned."
> — **Ken Fedesna**, during his remarks on game history
> _Assessment of Steve Ritchie's Flash as a transformative design_

> "Close to 22,000 Addams Families were made at the time."
> — **Ken Fedesna**, during remarks on Bally/Williams era production
> _Documentation of Addams Family's unprecedented commercial success_

> "I couldn't win [the fight against splitting Midway from WMS], but I fought Neil on that as much as I possibly could."
> — **Ken Fedesna**, near end of his remarks
> _Ken's resistance to the 1996 corporate decision that ultimately led to end of pinball production in 1999_

> "You bastard."
> — **Steve Ritchie (in Ken Fedesna's anecdote)**, during Ken's story about the bottle rocket prank
> _Humorous story illustrating Ken's management style and relationship with designers_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Ken Fedesna | person | 2018 Hall of Fame inductee; legendary Williams pinball executive who designed the first solid-state pinball system (1977), managed engineering for 40+ years, and recruited/mentored the greatest concentration of game industry talent in history. Served as VP General Manager and was central to Williams' survival through multiple crises. |
| Larry DeMar | person | Presenter of Ken Fedesna's induction; legendary Bally/Williams pinball designer who joined in 1978, worked until 1999 on the pinball division, and is now with Team Play. Known for designing major titles and mentoring talent. |
| Steve Ritchie | person | Legendary pinball designer recruited from Atari in 1978; credited with games like Flash and worked on Star Wars with Elliot Eisman. Currently at Stern Pinball according to Steve's own remarks at the ceremony. |
| Martin (Pinball News) | person | 2018 Hall of Fame inductee; founder of Pinball News media outlet, known for covering pinball news globally, managing audio-visual at events, and serving as UK tournament director. Committed to expanding video coverage and high-resolution pinball documentation. |
| John Norris | person | 2018 Hall of Fame inductee; game designer/rules creator for 20+ Williams games including Surfing Safari and Operation Thunder. First met Ken Fedesna at the first Pinball Expo (1985) and has returned to design with Deep Root Pinball. |
| Elliot Eisman | person | 2018 Hall of Fame inductee; Stern Pinball mechanical engineer and designer; graduate of Purdue University; worked with Steve Ritchie on Star Wars pinball; praised by Ritchie for creativity and innovative mechanical work. |
| Eugene Jarvis | person | Legendary Williams video and pinball designer; recruited from California by Steve Ritchie; co-designer of Firepower with Ritchie; led video game development team and later went on to chief game designer at Google and founded own studio. |
| Pat Lawlor | person | Legendary pinball designer; joined Williams in mid-1980s and created Banzai Run as his first game, followed by multiple major titles including Addams Family (reportedly 22,000 units sold). Known for envelope-pushing thematic integration. |
| George Gomez | person | Legendary pinball designer; came to Williams from Grand Products and previously worked with Marvin Glass; designed Monster Bash and other acclaimed games; noted for great creativity and design philosophy. Currently holds leadership role at Stern Pinball. |
| Gary Flaherty | person | Master of Ceremonies for Pinball Expo 2018 Hall of Fame ceremony; inducted Martin from Pinball News and John Norris; praised their contributions to pinball community. |
| Williams Electronics | company | Major pinball manufacturer (1977-1999); engineered the solid-state revolution; produced iconic games from Firepower to Addams Family; employed most of the legendary designers honored at this ceremony. Final pinball machine produced November 22, 1999. |
| Deep Root Pinball | company | Contemporary pinball manufacturer (as of 2018); John Norris recently joined this company as designer after decades away from the industry. |
| Stern Pinball | company | Contemporary pinball manufacturer (as of 2018); employs Steve Ritchie, George Gomez, and other members of Ken's 'Army' from the Williams era. |
| Pinball News | organization | Independent pinball media outlet founded by Martin; provides global coverage of pinball news, events, audio-visual documentation, and tournament coverage; expanding video production and documentation quality. |
| Pinball Expo | event | Annual pinball industry event (at least since 1985, still active in 2018); venue for Hall of Fame inductions, industry announcements, and community gathering. First Pinball Expo occurred in 1985. |
| Atari | company | Video game company where Steve Ritchie worked before being recruited to Williams in 1978; Ritchie was designing Airborne Avenger when recruited. |
| Bally | company | Pinball/arcade manufacturer acquired by Williams in 1988; brought designers Dennis Nordman, Greg Ferris, Jim Patla, and others into the Williams organization. |
| Midway | company | Arcade/game manufacturer acquired by Williams in 1988 along with Bally; contributed limited design talent (Brian Colon, Jeff Nauman) to pinball division. |
| Team Play | company | Contemporary game company (as of 2018) where Ken Fedesna and Jack Hayer work together (37-38 year partnership noted); Ken appears to be involved with this company post-Williams. |
| Marvin Glass | company | Game design company where George Gomez worked before joining Williams; known for toy and game design innovation. |
| Zen Studios | company | Virtual pinball company mentioned in context of pinball licensing deals and digital pinball game development. |
| Rob Burke | person | Acknowledged by Ken Fedesna for accepting him into pinball community and making Pinball Expo happen; appears to be organizer/founder of Pinball Expo. |
| Addams Family | game | Landmark Williams pinball machine designed by Pat Lawlor (culminated in 1992); highest-selling pinball machine in history with approximately 22,000 units produced. |
| Firepower | game | Landmark Williams pinball game (1980) co-designed by Steve Ritchie and Eugene Jarvis; noted as beginning of modern pinball era. |
| Flash | game | Early Steve Ritchie pinball game credited with setting a new trend in pinball machine design. |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Hall of Fame induction ceremony and honorees, Ken Fedesna's career and legacy at Williams Electronics, History of solid-state pinball technology development (1977-1999), Williams pinball design talent recruitment and mentorship culture, Legendary pinball designers and their major games
- **Secondary:** Post-Williams era careers of pinball industry veterans, Industry crisis management (1982 video game competition, 1999 pinball division closure), Pinball News media coverage and community documentation

### Sentiment

**Positive** (0.92) — Ceremony is celebratory and reverential toward inductees. Strong appreciation expressed for Ken Fedesna's leadership, mentorship, and preservation of pinball during industry crises. Multiple speakers express gratitude, affection, and respect. Only minor tension evident in Ken's comment about fighting corporate decision to split Midway from WMS, but presented with acceptance of outcome.

### Signals

- **[business_signal]** Williams' 1996 corporate decision to split Midway from WMS (pinball/slot machine division) was opposed by Ken Fedesna but ultimately approved by board. This corporate restructuring preceded the final pinball shutdown in 1999. (confidence: high) — Ken Fedesna: 'in 96, it was also Neil's idea, and the board of directors would start splitting Midway away from WMS... I fought Neil on that as much as I possibly could, but I couldn't win.'
- **[business_signal]** Ken Fedesna devised strategy in 1982 to maintain Williams' pinball division at low operating levels during video game industry collapse, preventing complete shutdown and preserving technical know-how for future resurgence. (confidence: high) — Larry DeMar: 'in 1982 when pinball was in a legendary slump... it really was Ken alone that devised a strategy to keep that division going at a low level so as not to lose the know-how to bring it back at a later time.'
- **[community_signal]** Pinball Expo established as long-standing industry event (at least since 1985) serving as venue for Hall of Fame inductions, industry announcements, and community celebration. Rob Burke credited with organizing and sustaining the event. (confidence: high) — Gary Flaherty thanks Rob Burke for accepting him and making Pinball Expo happen; John Norris notes first Pinball Expo in 1985 started his career.
- **[design_philosophy]** Early solid-state pinball development received minimal organizational support from Williams corporate; Steve Kordek was the only Williams manager who actively guided the skunk works team in 1977. (confidence: high) — Ken Fedesna: 'It turns out that I didn't realize this at the time, but we were not getting a lot of support from Williams... there was nobody else from Williams that supported us at the time.'
- **[design_philosophy]** Multiple legendary designers (Ritchie, Gomez, Lawlor) recruited or mentored by Ken Fedesna went on to define pinball design aesthetics and mechanical philosophy for subsequent generations. (confidence: high) — Larry DeMar's description of Ken's Army members creating foundational games (Flash, Firepower, Addams Family) that set design trends and influenced modern pinball.
- **[market_signal]** Ken Fedesna's 'Army' of talent from Williams persisted and succeeded across multiple industries post-1999. Describes concentrated talent pool whose members went on to lead Microsoft gaming, Google game design, founded independent studios, and now work at contemporary pinball manufacturers. (confidence: high) — Larry DeMar's remarks tracing Ken's Army members to Microsoft (Matt Booty), Google (Noah Falstein), multiple independent studios, and current pinball companies (Stern, Jersey Jack, Deep Root).
- **[market_signal]** Williams produced its final pinball machine on November 22, 1999 (Star Trek Episode I), marking the complete end of the company's 22-year solid-state pinball era. Division remained closed despite attempts to revive with Pinball 3000 concept games. (confidence: high) — Ken Fedesna: 'I guess the last pinball was made on November 22, 1999' and 'it was in 99, of course, was the end of it as far as pinball was concerned.'
- **[community_signal]** Ken Fedesna's management style emphasized non-interference with designer creative work while providing guidance and organizational support. Story illustrates his ability to manage eccentric, creative personalities without confrontation. (confidence: high) — Steve Ritchie anecdote about Ken's response to bottle rocket prank: 'Get a piece of metal out of the shop so you don't burn the linoleum in the hallway.' Also: 'he never interfered with our design work.'
- **[personnel_signal]** Ken Fedesna identified as the central figure who recruited, mentored, and managed the greatest concentration of game design talent in history. Multiple legendary designers (Steve Ritchie, Eugene Jarvis, George Gomez, Pat Lawlor, etc.) all connected through Ken's hiring decisions and leadership style. (confidence: high) — Larry DeMar's extensive remarks detailing Ken's recruitment of each major talent and subsequent careers; Ken's own remarks confirming hiring decisions.
- **[personnel_signal]** Steve Ritchie recruited from Atari in 1978 after designing Airborne Avenger; his joining Williams was described as transformative for the company's trajectory. Pat Lawlor joined mid-1980s and became prolific designer of major titles. (confidence: high) — Ken Fedesna: 'And he was designing a game, Airborne Avenger was the game at the time... Steve Kordick and Mike flew out to California and were able to recruit Steve Ritchie. And, of course, Williams was never the same after Steve Ritchie joined us.'
- **[product_strategy]** Addams Family (1992) achieved unprecedented commercial success with approximately 22,000 units produced, making it the highest-selling pinball machine in history. (confidence: high) — Ken Fedesna: 'close to 22,000 Addams Families were made at the time' and described as culmination of 1989-1992 era of major releases.
- **[technology_signal]** Hot Tip (September 1977) marked the beginning of Williams' solid-state electronic pinball era, replacing electromechanical games. Developed by Ken Fedesna's team in approximately 3 months. (confidence: high) — Ken Fedesna: 'in September of, I guess it was, of 1977, out came Hot Tip. It was the first solid state game.'

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## Transcript

 To bring excellence to the industry. Several years ago it was Greg's idea to have a support and service award for those who were the industries that also supported the manufacturers. So I'm going to ask Gary Flaherty to come up front, if you would, Gary, and begin our Festivities for tonight. No, this guy. This guy. Good evening, everybody. It's my pleasure and privilege to induct this gentleman into the Pinball Hall of Fame for his work in supporting the pinball community. this chap is a stalwart of the pinball community around the world not only does he do a great job of bringing us the latest pinball news but he also turns up at events all around the world and does things like manage the audio visual and provide great coverage for the rest of us that aren't fortunate enough to make it to the shows that he attends In addition to that, he's a great pinball player and great at making things happen. He's been tournament director for the UK. Come on up, Martin. I think that's enough praise for you. Thank you. Well done. Thank you, Gary. Wow, thank you very much Gary and thank you for everyone for the support, I have to say this was a complete and utter shock we've been sharing a room, we've been sharing a car for the last few days and you managed to make it a complete and utter surprise so thank you very much indeed. It's an absolute pleasure to be able to bring news of the pinball world to everyone, whether you can make it to the shows or whether you can't. And I just want to say that this year we're doing an even bigger job adding video and more pictures, more recordings, higher resolution stuff, so we just want to push pinball further as everybody else in the business is doing as well and everybody in the hobby. We want more pinball all around the world for everyone to enjoy and that's all we're here for. So thank you very much indeed and thank you for this. And I've got a double privilege tonight because I've got another inductee to honour. I first met this guy in 1985 at the very first Pinball Expo which is before he actually joined the industry. Since then, over the following 15 years, he was involved in designing and doing the game rules for over 20 games, including two of my particular favourites, Surfing Safari and Operation Thunder. And it gives me great pleasure tonight to welcome him back to the designing community as part of the Deep Root team. Come on up, Jon Norris. Thank you. Thank you Gary, Rob, and it was Pinball Expo, the very first Pinball Expo, that started my journey in the pinball industry. And here we are many years later and I'm back and I'm loving every minute of it. Okay, well we have more. Steve Ritchie, are you here today? Come up forward. Thank you. How are you doing? This is one of the most fun things I get to do. I'm going to talk about a person that I work with at Stern. He's like a great mechanical engineer, but not just that. He has a great imagination. He's worked hard on a bunch of games, just some incredible work, some work that no one's ever done before. He also worked with me on Star Wars, and it was a tough challenge. Anyway, he's a young guy, he's a graduate from Purdue, he's a smarty pants, I don't like him for that. Yes, I do. Anyway, I would like to call up Elliot Elliot Eismin. Thank you very much. Before we go on to our last inductee, I should mention our inaugural inductees. David Gottlieb, this is October of 1991. Harry Williams. Ray Maloney. Sam Stern. So this was the beginning of what we did in 1991 and we've been doing it ever since, every year. So we have one more presentation. If Larry DeMar would please come up front. Larry DeMar, President, University of California, University of California, University of California President, University of California, University of California Good evening. I have the great pleasure tonight of bestowing this long overdue honor for my boss, colleague, and friend, Ken Fedesna. Ken was fondly regarded by many at Williams as a teddy bear. And we know he's huggable and lovable, but there does seem to be a resemblance. If you came here specifically tonight to support Ken, would you please stand up? All right, Ken, look around. These are your people. These are your people. Now, I will admit that I spread the word as far and wide as I could. But I did this knowing the incredible connection that Ken had with virtually everyone in the company and in every corner of the industry during the decades he was with Williams, Bally, Midway, and Atari. I have this wonderful picture from last year's expo where a group of Williams pinball superstars got together for this shot around our esteemed leader. I know that every one of them would tell you the influence that Ken has had on their lives and their careers. One of them has asked me if he could say a few words tonight. Now, Steve has never hesitated to say what's on his mind and tell it like it is. And can you believe that knowing that, I'm still going to hand over the microphone to him? So, would you like to hear a few words from Steve? All right. This guy, this Ken Fedesna guy, he's like, he's been a good friend for a long, long time. I don't even know where you're sitting. I'm not looking at you. You know what he calls me? He calls me fleabag. I never have said an unkind word to you in my life. Okay, here's the, we never argued really. Let's talk to Larry about tipping machines. All right, we won't, we won't. Ken Fedosna was a great boss. He really wasn't a boss. He was like our friend And he never interfered with our design work I mean well if he he might but there weren many bums at Williams And so we got to do and make what we wanted to make but not just that what we thought we could make that would propel the company forward. And it definitely worked out, didn't it, Dennis? Didn't it, Barry? Didn't it? It was awesome. Really, Bridget should get this award. She has to put up with you. All right. Anyway, this is way overdue, and I thank you for being my friend, for giving us the freedom to make good games, to have fun. I've got to tell you one story. I've told it before, but it really is true. Okay. I'm standing outside Barry's door with a lighter and a whistling bottle rocket. I put it on the floor in front of his door. You bastard. Ken comes walking up and I thought, oh no. He goes, are you crazy? Get a piece of metal out of the shop so you don't burn the linoleum in the hallway. True story, folks. Anyway, thanks for letting me speak. I love you, man, and your whole family. I'm going to tell you And I mean it. Thank you. If you have an appreciation for Williams pinball, then you have to understand that Ken was the central figure of the electronic pinball era, literally from the beginning to the end. Ken was hired into a small skunk works team that worked in the Seabourgs jukebox facility, where he was the electrical engineer that designed the first electronic system for Williams pinball machines, first used in a handful of Grand Prix prototypes, and then Williams' first computerized production game, Hot Tip. from 1977 when the first hot tip rolled off the line until 1999 when the final Star Trek Episode I rolled off the line, Ken was there through the ups and downs. Oh, I can't leave that sad photo up there any longer. So it's amazing what you can stumble into when you're looking on the Internet for photos. Hmm. Honor Society for three years. Honor Roll for four years. Impressive. Audio-visual club? Me too. TV club? Bet that wowed them on your college applications. I am really glad that you became a pinball engineer instead of an aerospace engineer. I know everyone else here is glad, too. Talking about riding the ups and downs, in 1982 when pinball was in a legendary slump due to the competition from video games, in the face of corporate pressure to shut pinball down so that the resources could be shifted to video games, it really was Ken alone that devised a strategy to keep that division going at a low level so as not to lose the know-how to bring it back at a later time. What followed was a ramp up in the late 80s with models like Comet, High Speed, and PinBot, leading into the dot matrix era of the 90s, and shown here is just a sampling of the great games from that era. It was the result of a lot of great work by a lot of very talented people during one of the most exciting times of my career, but none of it would have happened without Ken's passion and plan when things got tough and his continual efforts to get the best people when things were good. I didn't solicit remarks as I spread the word. However, many of our colleagues from the company and the industry sent me their reactions to this honor, some of whom couldn't make it here tonight but wanted to show support. Mike Viniker writes, Is there a way we can FaceTime in so we can see it while we're at the Portland show and give our love to Ken? I love Ken, and while I'm not sad that I'll be missing Expo, I am sad that I can't be there in person for Ken's induction. Tom Cedar wrote, I couldn't agree with you more that Ken was the steady center of all the great people, projects and permutations over the years, and he really enabled all of our accomplishments. Eugene Jervis writes, Ken was the adult supervising neutron that kept the highly unstable elephant element. Let's try that again. No, no elephants. Okay. Ken was the adult supervising neutron that kept the highly unstable element, Williamium, from blowing us all to hell. Roger Sharp writes, I wouldn't miss it for the world. Well deserved and about time and maybe the best of all, no long banquet to sit through. Brian Eddy writes, wow, very impressive that you got Ken there, Larry. I've tried to talk to him into it for years and like you said, way, way past due. Jim Patla writes, hope the hall is big enough. See you there. Richard Curry writes, I've known Ken a very long time and agree with you completely. I'm based in Las Vegas these days, so I will be unable to attend. Please pass on to him my warmest regards. Andy Eloff, thanks for promoting this. Couldn't happen to a better guy. Doug Hughes, wish I could be there. Ken and all of you were a great influence on me where I went from Williams. Lots of really good memories. Matt Booty writes, great to see Ken getting the recognition. To this day, I lean on lessons learned from him. Noah Falstein, please do tell Ken I am forever grateful for his taking a chance on me and giving me the opportunity to be part of the Williams team. Gary Berge, unfortunately I can't make it this Friday, so relay my best to Ken. It would be kind of neat to have a reunion at some time. Well, Gary, looks like we're having a reunion of sorts tonight, and it is kind of neat. We got regretful messages that ended with, please give Ken my best, from Michael Njikala, Jim Jackson, Jim Gentile, Mark Chan, Mark Guidarelli, Graham West, Dave Mueller, Jeremy Saucier, Jenny Dressler, and Joe Camerata. Mark Lofredo, he didn't write anything. But instead, he sent this rendition of the event. For me, Ken was the single most significant influence and factor in my success as a game developer and studio director. And that's saying a lot, considering I was mentored by Steve Ritchie and Eugene Jarvis when I joined the company. To talk about his roles as EE Manager, Director of Engineering, and General Manager is only a fragment of the whole story. Ken was instrumental in attracting the smartest, most creative game developers to the company. Well, it so happens that really smart, creative, successful people are sometimes difficult, demanding, and often quite childish, present company included. And who would be better to understand these children than a man that has the largest model train layout I've ever seen in his basement? At times, his role was described as a daycare manager, but every last person at that company had affection and respect for Ken, and somehow he always made it work. Whether it was dealing with a prima donna developer or managing conflict between design teams that George Gomez once so aptly described as warring gangs, Ken would help us balance it out. It is a certainty that he was the soul of the company, and more than that, he was the conscience of the company. We would have done anything for Ken, and he supported and trusted and enabled all of us in our endeavors. And our huge cast of talented, eccentric characters became Ken's army. We had success, we had fun, and we had a great love for making games. games. This photo is a small part of Ken's Army, a very small part, but every single person in this picture that is not retired, including Ken, is still making games today. The larger part of Ken's Army includes the likes of Matt Booty, who runs all the games at Microsoft, Noah Falstein, who was chief game designer at Google, Ed Boon, Eugene Jarvis, John Tobias, George Pietro, Brian Schmidt, myself, and others that I can't remember, each started their own game studio, each with members of Ken's Army working in those studios to make great games. With pinball's resurgence, it is wonderful to see Ken's Army at the pinball companies, too. When I visit Stern, it's like a Williams reunion, seeing Steve, Greg, George, Lyman, Dwight, Chuck, Jim, and Mike, and those I forgot. Pat, Ted, Keith, and Ron are working hard at Jersey Jacks. Dennis, Barry, and John are with Deep Root Pinball and setting their sights high. And Ken, with other members of the Army, are now making very large gains with his team at Team Play Ken attracted and maintained this Army one of the greatest concentrations of talent and accomplishments there have ever been And it is staggering to see what is being accomplished by our scattered Army in the post-Williams era. With so many members of the Army here to support our leader, please join me to give a big hand for our 2018 Pinball Expo Hall of Fame inductee, Ken Fedesna. As soon as Ken is done with his remarks, Perhaps we'd like to get everybody that worked with Ken up here for a group picture. So please, well, we'll do it in the corner, not on the stage. Do it on the stage? Okay. Jim, just listen to what Jim says. Okay. Okay. Okay. You know, I don't know how to follow that. I had a bunch of notes prepared, but Larry has stolen a lot of my thunder that were in my notes, as it turns out, that way. You know, it's been four years that Larry's been asking me to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, and he wanted to sponsor me and things like that. And actually, something has always come up, usually. Like four years ago, my cousin's daughter was getting married in Birmingham, Alabama, so we went to Birmingham, Alabama. The next year, it turns out that my aunt and uncle in Austin, Texas, were having their 90th birthday parties and stuff like that, and so forth and so on. So anyway, so this year, Larry says, you've got no excuse type of thing. Well, actually, last weekend I was in Cincinnati for another party. But anyways, so I said, okay, Larry, I figured that, hey, there's no banquet. This has got announced at this point in time, so I thought I'd fly under the radar type of situation with this link. So anyway, so two days later after I told Larry I'm going to accept, I get these two emails from Larry. And the first one says, oh, crap, that's the headline on the thing. And he says, whatever you do, don't open up the second email. Well, of course I'm going to open up the second email. What am I going to do? How can I not open it up? And it's Larry telling everybody here and a bunch of other people about this event. So, so much for flying under the radar. That wasn't going to work, that kind of situation, that kind of thing. I can't tell you how much I appreciate everything he's done for me. And likewise. I started in 77, and I'll get into that. but it was Larry started in 79, right, or 78 type of situation, right after we had done the whole thing. I started on February 21, 1977. I was recruited by Mike Stroll at the time, and they were trying to create this, as Larry described, Skunk Works team to develop a solid-state pinball system internally to Williams and things like that. So Mike Stroll hired myself. Dave Poole was another individual that was also part of the team. I knew a guy by the name of Ron Crouse who was a programmer at this company called Addressograph Multigraph that I worked for and things like that. We hired a technician by the name of Don Guskey, and Don Guskey was just as colorblind as I was, and we were always having arguments about the values of resistors or wires and all this other stuff type of thing. And there were two individuals that were from Seaberg that joined us, Jim Rabel, who was electrical production engineer, and Ray Gay. Ray is here somewhere. I'm not sure where he's at type of thing, back there type of thing. Ray was a member. Ray was part of the Seberg group that, again, did the design layouts for all the circuit boards that we had at the time and things like that. It turns out that I didn't realize this at the time, but we were not getting a lot of support from Williams. Mike had been actually hired by Luna Castro and corporate type of thing to design this, and Williams really didn't want to have much to do with us, with one exception, and that was Steve Kordek. Steve Kordek would come over and guide us and always tell us about what pinball machines were about, how the pinball plays and all of those stuff. But really there was nobody else from Williams that supported us at the time. So on February 21st I started, type of thing, and within three months, and I never would have believed this would happen, we designed the first solid-state system and had five Grand Prix's out on test on Memorial Day. It was just, like I say, mind-boggling to me at the time and things like that. So as we continued through that summer, Paul DeSault joined us at the time. Paul was also a member of addressograph, multigraph, and things like that. And Paul wrote the first manuals and instructions and things like that. But really, then after that, Paul started programming pinball machines. And then he became director of engineering at one time during all the 30 years or whatever we were there and stuff like that all the time. So then, as Larry said, in September of, I guess it was, of 1977, out came Hot Tip. It was the first solid state game and then the whole thing kept going from there type of situation. In 78, Mike had the wisdom to go out and try to find this young engineer that was over at Atari at the time. And he was designing a game, Airborne Avenger was the game at the time. And then we had not seen Superman. But Steve Kordick and Mike flew out to California and were able to recruit Steve Ritchie. And, of course, Williams was never the same after Steve Ritchie joined us. No matter what he says, it was never the same type of thing. It was also during, again, as Larry said in 78, that Larry joined us. He was a young kid right out of school, out of MIT at the time, and he was trying to decide whether he would take a job with us or he was going to take a job with Bell Labs. Well, he went to Bell Labs initially, but that didn't last very long. He quickly came over back to Williams, and again, he was with us to the very end of the pinball era in 1999. Then he was the head of gaming development too for the slot machine division and all the other stuff for us for quite a while. Chuck Blyke, who is also here somewhere. Chuck was another one that joined us in 78 at the time and things like that. Just out of school, an electrical engineer, and we hired Chuck and he did a lot of the developments on all the WPC system as well as what we did in video at the time. Connie Mitchell, I don't know where Connie, I guess Connie's not here, I don't think, But Connie Mitchell was another one that we were looking for in-house artists and stuff like that. And Connie just happened to live next door to my parents. And I got to know Connie and says, hey, here's the perfect guy. And we wound up hiring Connie at the time. Eugene Jarvis, Steve Ritchie, he had worked with Steve on both Airborne Avenger and on Superman and things like that. And Steve then convinced you've got to hire this guy out of California. We recruited Eugene Jarvis. And then Eugene Jarvis went on to do FF14, I'm sorry, Firepower was the first game that he did with Steve at the time. Mark Ritchie. Mark came across in 1979 also at his brother's coaching and things like that. And it's funny how all these guys, whether it was Barry or it was Mark or it was Steve, and they started out basically assembling pinball machines and then started doing their own pinball machines. And obviously it went from there type of thing. There was another person that joined us in 1980 also, it was Joe Dillon. Joe Dillon, we had originally when we started, Jack Middle, was the Vice President of Sales and things like that. Jack left and Joe Dillon then was recruited to come over from Seaburg at the time and everybody I think here knows Joe. I agree. And I don't know if anybody would remember but Joe Kamenkow also joined us in the 1980 at the time and things like that. He was actually, I guess Joe Dillon knew his father very well and had convinced, you know, Joe to join us and everything. And Joe stayed with us for three or four years, I guess it was, before he went over to Stern Pinball at the time. So anyway, so Flash, of course, set us all on fire. That's when Steve came out, joined this type of thing. Out came Flash and it was never, that was it. It set a whole new trend as far as pinball machines were concerned at the time. Gorgar, Barry's game and things like that, first talking pinball machine. And then came Firepower to follow all that stuff with Steve designing the game with Eugene doing the programming at the time. In 1980, I kind of switched gears a little because I was asked now to be what is now referred to as a producer in the video era and things like that. And we set up another Skunk Works group at this facility on Belden Avenue, which was not in the greatest neighborhoods, but neither was Seaberg, now that I think about it. But anyways, we set up this skunkworks type of thing, and we had to hire all new electrical engineers with the exception of Chuck came over at the time, and Eugene was the leader of the group as far as the design and programming is concerned and things like that. But he also had help from Paul. He had help from obviously Larry at the time. He had Sam Dicker was another individual that joined us at the time that did a lot of the software. The game was called Defender was the first one that came out. We sold over 55,000 of those at the time. built a new factory and everything else. Okay so now we go into the 1980, early 80, 84 type of thing. As Larry said, things started kind of falling apart. Although not so much on the video side because on the video side we had Stargate and Robotron, we had Joust, we had CineStar, and we had StarRider. And during that time John Newcomer joined us who again was the eventual designer on Joust. Jack Haeger, who is still with me after all these years at Team Play now. What is it, 37, 38 years type of thing we've been together type of thing. He did CineStar at the time RJ Michael who let the whole Amiga thing happen and stuff like that Noah Falstein, which Larry already mentioned, and things like that. Mark Lafredo joined us as part of the video team. And there was this other character that I ran across that was recommended to me, and his name was Python Anghelo. I can't describe. It would take a whole years to tell all the stories about Python, is all I can say. But Python was a great, and Bill Futsenruder also joined us in those days and things like that. Out came Black Knight in 1980 at the same time as Defender. We were on the cover of Replay and PlayMeter doing exceptionally well. But as Larry said, things started kind of falling apart with the pinball at the time and things like that. But little did we realize in 1984, of course, things were going to even more fall apart on the video side. And we really retreated with video, and it was lucky at the time that we had this game called Space Station, not Space Station, Space Shuttle, I'm sorry, that was in the works. And at that time, it was Barry and Larry and Joe Kamenkow was part of the concept, conceptual part of the whole thing. Mark Sprenger, Eugene, and Bill Perod were the programmers and the sound guys at the time and things like that. And Space Shuttle, again, started a whole new era as far as pinball machines were concerned. We retreated again from video. Mike Stroll actually left the company in December of 1984. For the next couple years, it was kind of a group effort in terms of Joe Dillon, myself, John Masterson, who was the head of manufacturing, and Rich Wilkis, who was the head of finance that ran the company and things like that. It was in the 1980s. That was 85. So 85, Larry put a lot of the games up there already. Comet, high speed, F-14, Cyclone, Taxi. And we also had a guy that Larry brought into the fold and stuff like that by the name of Pat Lawler. And Pat Lawler did Banzai Run, was the very first game he did with us, to be several other games as we went on from there on things. In 1988, things started turning around and stuff like that, and it turns out that we wound up buying Valley and Midway from Valley at the time. Actually, in 1984, and I don't know how many people know this, Valley did look at buying Williams at the time when the deal fell apart. But in 1988, we wound up buying them and stuff like that. And that's when Jim Patla, Greg Freres, Dennis Nordman, all the guys that were with us for the whole Bally era and stuff like that, when Williams came to the company and stuff like that. On the Midway side of things, there was only two people that came with us, Brian Colon and Jeff Nauman, who did Rampage and Xenophobe and then did Arch Rivals and some other games for us as part of that deal and things like that. When we purchased Bally, I was promoted to the VP General Manager at the time, And Neil Macastro moved from New York to be the chairman of the board and president of the company and things like that. And I can't tell you how much I owe personally to Neil. Neil and I were comrades in battle. We would spend a lot of days and nights talking about things and stuff like that. It was kind of crazy at the time. So in 1988, we purchased, like I said, Bally. From then on, everything really started happening. Between 1989 and 1992, we hit Earthshaker, Elvira, Black Knight 2000, Police Force, Whirlwind, Funhouse, Terminator 2, as far as a pinball machine, Hurricane, Getaway, and then Pat's game, which culminated in 1982, is Addams Family, which was the biggest run of anything, close to 22,000 Addams Families were made at the time. . Okay, on the video side, we had games like High Impact, which was Ed Boon. Smash TV, which was Mark Turbell and Sal DeVita. T2 Judgment Day, which was George Pietro and Jack Hayer again. And then there was this small little group on the side, and I know Ed's here somewhere type of thing, but Ed Boone and John Tobias came up with this fighting game idea. They did this game, and it was Mortal Kombat. How much more could you say than Mortal Kombat? Mortal Kombat. 93, 94, things continue. Twilight Zone, Indiana Jones, Star Trek Next Generation, Roadshow, Corvette, Shadow. On the video side, it's MK2, NBA Jam, Revolution X, Cruisin' USA, and things just keep going from there. It was also in 94 that we wound up buying a company called Trade West in Texas on the West Coast, and Trade West got us into the whole consumer video game era and things like that for us to do our own games. Prior to that, Acclaim was doing everything at the time. I see. And Pat just walked in, and we were just talking about some of the things that you did for us, Pat, which was fantastic. Thank you. And 95 things, again, continue to happen with No Fear, Attack from Mars, Theater of Magic, Arabian Nights, Safe Crackers, Scared Stiff, Circus Voltaire, NBA Jam, Medieval Madness, No Good Gophers, and then on 98th was Monster Bash, which was again a George Gomez game. It was during that, actually, the 89-92 era that I missed a bunch of people that joined us, which included Brian Eddy, Dwight Sullivan, Mike Boon, John Tobias, Mark Tramiel, Sal DeVito, and things like that. George actually came to us at the time from Grand Products, but before that you were part of the whole thing with Marvin Glass and stuff like that. And again, it was another one that fitted right into the fold with his great creativity and designs and stuff like that. And again, Monster Bass is a prime example that I guess that they're doing again now even and stuff like that. And also in that era, of course, on the video side was MK3, MK4, NFL Blitz, Antonio Cruz and World, Antonio Cruz and Exotica, and things just kept going. And it was also in 96 that we wound up buying Atari Coin-Up and things like that. But in 96, it was also Neil's idea, and the board of directors would start splitting Midway away from WMS, which was now all the slot machine group and the pinball era and stuff like that, which, again, just between us, I fought Neil on that as much as I possibly could, but I couldn't win. In 99, of course, was the end of it as far as pinball was concerned. Cactus Canyon was the last electromechanical game. We tried to make something really happen with Pinball 3000. which was Revenge from Mar and Star Wars Phantom Menace at the time, but it just didn't happen. I guess the last pinball was made on November 22, 1999. There's a couple other people that I'd like to thank, and then I want to explain why we just went through what I did type of thing. First of all, Rob Burke. Rob has done a fantastic job for accepting me into things, but making this whole pinball expo happen and stuff like this here under the circumstances that he went through, I think we all owe him a... And then I think it was Steve and Larry that mentioned my wife and my daughter and all they went through and stuff like that. I can't tell you all the hard, you know, the long hours, the weeks that we put in and stuff like that, that we went trips and we were away at the time and stuff like that. And as Steve said, how she put up with me, I don't know sometimes, but she did. So there are Bridget and Jennifer right there. In front of the Williams building on 3401 North California was this sign. And this sign said, We make the games and make the industry. And I emphasize the word we because it is we, all the people that are out here that helped make that company happen at the time. I mean, we had the greatest pinball and video game company in the world. world. I don't know how much more we could ask for. But it was not any one individual. It was all the people out here working together. And yes, we did have our discussions and fights, I guess you'd call it, or something like that. The thing that maybe Larry doesn't remember that, though, was back in 77, Mike Stroll had Chris and Dave Poole, Ron Crouse and myself as the sandbox kids. And the reason he called us the sandbox kids is because we were always throwing sand at each other, even back then. So I was one of the troublemakers in the very beginning and stuff like that. But we were always family back then and we were always family as we went through all the 80s and 90s and everything else that's happened with this company and stuff like that. It's because of all the people out here that we are what we were and stuff like that. I can't tell you, like I said, how big of an asset it is. I mean, as a manager type of thing, yes, as Larry indicated, there were some taxing times that when Steve or Larry or Barry or whoever would act up and things like that. I don't I don't remember Mark actually acting up too much, but I'm sure there was an occasion there somewhere along the line. I think it was when you left for Capcom. I think that was one of the things. But otherwise, Mark was one of the things. And Dennis. I don't remember Dennis ever causing too much trouble other than getting in a motorcycle accident and having to figure out how we were going to finish. What was it? Blackwater. Was it Elvira? At the time, things like that. But anyways, no matter what happened with all these disagreements and all the good times and the bad times, as far as I'm concerned, we were a family. And we all pulled together when we needed to be. Yeah, there were some discussions and stuff like that, but again, it was the people here that made it. So basically, on behalf, well, one of the things, again, that I also will cherish most is, of course, all of you out there. My friends and colleagues, I can't tell you how much you guys mean to me. So on behalf of the Williams Bally Midway and Atari people that helped lead this company into and make it into the greatest pinball and video game company in the world, I am happy to accept this honor of being inducted into the Pinball Hall of Fame, but it's really you guys that made it happen. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Can everybody that's worked with Ken, either at Williams or in the industry, please join us for an enormous group picture?

_(Acquisition: youtube_groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 8de5ee86-c64c-4d2a-9762-f2780b23ba94*