# Past Times Pinball History Ep 19: Hercules

**Source:** Past Times Arcade  
**Type:** video  
**Published:** 2024-04-24  
**Duration:** 1m 45s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uinLZc9ot44

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## Analysis

Pastimes Arcade features a 1979 Atari Hercules, a novelty oversized pinball machine with only 500 units produced. The machine originated from a concept pitched by two former Allied Leisure employees to Bally in 1977 as 'Bigfoot,' which was rejected in favor of solid-state focus. The designers then approached Atari two years later, resulting in the Hercules production.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] 500 Atari Hercules machines were manufactured — _Direct statement by Pastimes host describing the machine on display_
- [HIGH] The game was designed by Arcade Engineering employees (Pearson and Ron Halberton) formerly from Allied Leisure — _Host provides specific names and company history as context for the machine's origin_
- [HIGH] Bally rejected the 'Bigfoot' concept in 1977 because they were transitioning from electromechanical to solid-state and wanted to focus on solid-state production — _Host explains the business decision and timing rationale_
- [HIGH] Atari received and approved the concept two years after Bally's rejection (approximately 1979) — _Host describes the timeline and Atari's decision to greenlight production_
- [HIGH] Hercules is so large that the playfield cannot be lifted for maintenance; instead, access doors underneath allow technicians to climb inside the machine — _Host describes unique maintenance feature requiring physical access from underneath_

### Notable Quotes

> "Now, typically in order to work on a pinball machine you'd lift the playfield. This game's so massive, in fact, that you can't lift the playfield. So they created doors underneath it. So in order to maintain the bottom of the game or anything on the bottom of the playfield, you actually climb inside of the game."
> — **Pastimes Arcade host**, ~1:15
> _Describes the unique engineering solution required for the oversized novelty machine's maintenance_

> "this is 1979. In 1977, two gentlemen from a company called Arcade Engineering—formerly Allied Leisure employees, Pearson and Ron Halberton—they approached Bally to create a game called Bigfoot, roughly the same size. Never hit full production. They created one prototype."
> — **Pastimes Arcade host**, ~1:45
> _Provides historical context on the machine's origin story and rejected Bally prototype_

> "All the manufacturers were switching over from electromechanical to solid state, so Bally decided to focus more on their solid state production than a novelty game like this. So they rejected the concept."
> — **Pastimes Arcade host**, ~2:15
> _Explains the industry transition and Bally's business rationale for rejection_

> "Went back to the two gentlemen, Jack and Ron, who then two years later approached Atari. Atari said, 'Let's go.' They created 500 games here."
> — **Pastimes Arcade host**, ~2:30
> _Describes how the designers pivoted from Bally to Atari and the successful outcome_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Pastimes Arcade | venue | Large commercial pinball arcade in Girard, Ohio hosting and showcasing rare machines; producing educational historical content series |
| Atari Hercules | game | 1979 novelty oversized pinball machine produced by Atari; 500 units manufactured; features trackball and massive flippers, playfield inaccessible to traditional lifting |
| Bally | company | Major historical pinball manufacturer; rejected the 'Bigfoot' novelty game concept in 1977 to focus on solid-state production |
| Atari | company | Arcade/gaming company that greenlit and produced the Hercules novelty pinball machine after Bally's rejection |
| Arcade Engineering | company | Company formed by former Allied Leisure employees; designed the Bigfoot/Hercules concept |
| Allied Leisure | company | Pinball/arcade manufacturer; employer of Pearson and Ron Halberton before they formed Arcade Engineering |
| Pearson | person | One of two designers (with Ron Halberton) from Arcade Engineering; formerly worked at Allied Leisure; pitched novelty pinball concepts to Bally and later Atari |
| Ron Halberton | person | Co-designer with Pearson; from Arcade Engineering and formerly Allied Leisure; involved in creating Bigfoot/Hercules concept |
| Bigfoot | game | Unreleased novelty pinball concept by Arcade Engineering pitched to Bally in 1977; rejected; became the basis for Atari Hercules; similar playfield layout to Bally Bow and Arrow |
| Bally Bow and Arrow | game | Referenced as a playfield layout inspiration/comparison for the Bigfoot concept |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Pinball manufacturing history and industry transitions, Novelty/oversized pinball machines
- **Secondary:** Electromechanical to solid-state transition in pinball industry, Machine maintenance and engineering design, Pastimes Arcade's rare machine collection and curation

### Sentiment

**Positive** (0.75) — Educational, celebratory tone highlighting historical significance and engineering ingenuity of the Hercules machine. Host presents the story as interesting and notable without criticism.

### Signals

- **[event_signal]** Pastimes Arcade Pinball History series documenting rare machines; Hercules episode demonstrates ongoing educational content production and curation of historically significant pinball machines (confidence: high) — Entire video is part of 'Pastimes Pinball History' series featuring rare machines from their collection

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## Transcript

for this episode of Pas times pimple history we're going to feature this 1979 Atari Hercules 500 of them were made come on up and take a look at this game we have some oversized flippers here typically this game comes with a QQ ball we have a track ball on ours makes it play a little bit faster game's typically a little bit slower it's more of a novelty game we have large pop bumpers large slingshots now typically in order to work on a pinball machine you'd lift the Playfield this game's so massive in fact that you can't lift the Playfield so they created doors underneath it so in order to maintain the bottom of the game or anything on the bottom of the Playfield you actually climb inside of the game an interesting story about how this game came to be this is 1979 in 1977 Two Gentlemen from a company called arcade engineering formerly Allied Leisure employees Pearson Ron halberton they approached Bal to create a game called Bigfoot roughly the same size never hit full production they created one prototype Playfield layout was similar to a game called balet bow and arrow at the time all the manufacturers were switching over from electromechanical to solid state so balet decided to focus more on their solid state production than a novelty game like this so they rejected the concept went back to the two gentlemen Jack and Ron who then two years later approached Atari Atari said let's go they created 500 games here as you see Atari Hercules so come on in check out this historic game at passtimes arcade [Music]

_(Acquisition: youtube_auto_sub, Enrichment: v1)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 97c8152b-5d83-4c5e-8cdb-ad593043314b*