# Paper View

**Source:** Pinball News Website  
**Type:** article  
**Published:** 2003-01-01  
**Beat:** Pinball

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

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## Analysis

A 2003 Chicago Tribune article examining pinball's decline in the early 2000s, featuring interviews with industry figures including Stern's Gary Stern and Illinois Pinball's Gene Cunningham. The piece documents how video games and competing arcade attractions have marginalized pinball in bars and arcades, while highlighting Stern's survival strategy of licensed games and modest production targets. The article also notes the emergence of private collectors as a growing market segment keeping pinball alive despite commercial venue challenges.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Stern Pinball produces 8,000 to 10,000 tables per year since Gary Stern bought the company back from Sega in 1999 — _Direct quote from Gary Stern in the article_
- [HIGH] The pinball business worldwide is approximately 10 percent of its size 10 years prior (circa 1993) — _Gary Stern quoted directly: 'The pinball business world-wide is not as large as 10 years ago. It's maybe 10 percent'_
- [HIGH] Two or three new games per year are produced in Chicago, compared to two per week during the heyday — _Stated in article body as current market observation_
- [HIGH] Williams/Pinball2000 exited the pinball market entirely in 1999 after the Pinball2000 concept failed to gain player enthusiasm — _Article states WMS Industries 'got out of the business in 1999' and 'Williams exited the market entirely after making just a few Pinball2000 games'_
- [MEDIUM] Poorly maintained pinball machines have done significant damage to the market comparable to video games — _Marco Rossignoli (author of 'Pinball Memories') quoted on maintenance issues_
- [HIGH] Illinois Pinball Company acquired the parts stocks of three manufacturers that shut down in the 1990s, including Williams — _Gene Cunningham quoted: 'The company...has grown rapidly through acquisition, buying up the parts stocks of three manufacturers that shut down in the '90s, including Williams'_

### Notable Quotes

> "The pinball business world-wide is not as large as 10 years ago. It's maybe 10 percent. There's a market for that, enough business for that, and we have restructured ourselves to operate well and profitably and at a significantly lower level."
> — **Gary Stern (Stern Pinball President)**, n/a
> _Core statement on post-Sega market positioning and Stern's survival strategy of profitable operation at dramatically reduced scale_

> "Our goal was to breathe new life into pinball and try to fuse these two elements--video and pinball--together as one. I don't think we were ever given a chance to prove ourselves over the long haul."
> — **Dave Mueller (Midway Games/Pinball2000 3-D artist)**, n/a
> _Retrospective on Williams' failed Pinball2000 hybrid technology strategy and market opportunity constraints_

> "You don't get a lot of play time. There are no good games anymore."
> — **Christina Mann (Chicago pinball player)**, n/a
> _Player perspective on modern game design overemphasizing gimmicks at expense of gameplay and short play duration_

> "A pinball game is a service-intense piece of equipment."
> — **Steve White (RePlay magazine editor)**, n/a
> _Industry perspective on operational barriers to bar/arcade placement due to maintenance requirements_

> "Kids or adults who have an initial interest in pinball, or perhaps are playing a game for the first time, get ripped off ... with a pinball game that is not working properly and don't ever play again."
> — **Marco Rossignoli (Author, 'Pinball Memories')**, n/a
> _Historical industry analysis on how poor machine maintenance damages market growth and player retention_

> "We really are one of the reasons for the decline of pinball. We took the real estate that was allocated for the pinball machine."
> — **Gary Colabuono (Director of Marketing, Incredible Technologies Inc./Golden Tee)**, n/a
> _Competitor candor on direct market displacement of pinball by video golf in venue floor space allocation_

> "Some of the machines built seven or eight years ago are bringing more now than when they were new."
> — **Gene Cunningham (Illinois Pinball Company President)**, n/a
> _Evidence of collector market appreciation offsetting commercial venue decline; secondary market value signal_

> "Hang in there, because there are people out there who want to play."
> — **Glen Morhlein (Pinball player, Skokie)**, n/a
> _Community player sentiment on grassroots support and continued demand despite commercial/venue challenges_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Stern Pinball | company | Sole manufacturer of new pinball machines as of 2003; Melrose Park, Illinois-based; produces 8,000-10,000 tables per year post-Sega acquisition; uses licensed IP strategy (Simpsons, Harley-Davidson, RollerCoaster Tycoon) |
| Gary Stern | person | President of Stern Pinball; second-generation pinball devotee; purchased company back from Sega in 1999; articulates 10% market scale strategy |
| Williams Electronics Games Inc. / WMS Industries | company | Historical Chicago pinball giant; exited market in 1999 after failed Pinball2000 concept; mothballed designs and parts acquired by Illinois Pinball |
| Illinois Pinball Company | company | Bloomington-based distributor and manufacturer of pinball parts; acquired stocks from three defunct manufacturers including Williams; pursuing Capcom game rights and Williams design acquisitions |
| Gene Cunningham | person | President of Illinois Pinball Company; pursuing growth through acquisition and re-releasing classic titles |
| Incredible Technologies Inc. | company | Arlington Heights-based maker of Golden Tee video golf game; primary commercial venue competitor displacing pinball; hired acclaimed designer Mark Ritchie (rumor of pinball plans denied) |
| Mark Ritchie | person | Acclaimed pinball designer hired by Incredible Technologies; rumors of pinball game development disputed by company |
| Chicago Tribune | organization | Published article by Jason Compton examining pinball's state in Chicago market |
| RePlay | organization | Amusement industry trade magazine; editor Steve White quoted on pinball service intensity and venue economics |
| Pinball Expo | event | 19th annual event scheduled for October 2003 in Rosemont; brings together industry figures and players; attracts younger collectors and fans |
| Marco Rossignoli | person | Author of 'Pinball Memories--Forty Years of Fun 1958-1998'; commentator on maintenance issues and market damage |
| Dave Mueller | person | Midway Games 3-D artist who worked on failed Pinball2000 concept |
| Steve White | person | Wilmette-based editor of RePlay amusement industry trade magazine; analysis of service-intensive economics |
| Gary Colabuono | person | Director of Marketing, Incredible Technologies Inc.; commentator on Golden Tee displacement of pinball in venue real estate |
| Sega | company | Previous owner of Stern Pinball; sold to Gary Stern in 1999 |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Market decline and competition from video games, Stern's post-Sega survival strategy and licensed IP approach, Venue economics and floor space displacement by Golden Tee and touchscreen games
- **Secondary:** Williams/Pinball2000 technology hybrid failure and exit from market, Collector market and secondary market appreciation offsetting commercial decline, Machine maintenance as barrier to bar/arcade adoption
- **Mentioned:** Grassroots community support and younger player engagement at Pinball Expo

### Sentiment

**Negative** (0.25) — Article reflects pessimistic industry state circa 2003 with significant market contraction, venue displacement, and competitive threats. However, some cautious optimism emerges around collector market, Stern's profitable restructuring, and continued grassroots support. Overall tone is elegiac for lost era balanced against modest survival narrative.

### Signals

- **[business_signal]** Pinball2000 hybrid technology concept (floating-projection screen blending video and pinball) failed to gain player enthusiasm despite innovation; Williams exited market entirely after limited Pinball2000 production (confidence: high) — Article: 'players weren't excited by this blend of technology, and Williams exited the market entirely after making just a few Pinball2000 games'
- **[business_signal]** Illinois Pinball Company pursuing growth through acquisition of defunct manufacturer parts inventory and licensing classic Capcom designs; exploring Williams design catalog re-acquisition (confidence: high) — Gene Cunningham: 'The company...has grown rapidly through acquisition, buying up the parts stocks of three manufacturers...he also bought the rights to build Capcom pinball games and said he is in negotiations to acquire Williams' mothballed designs'
- **[business_signal]** Stern Pinball's post-Sega acquisition strategy involves profitable operation at dramatically reduced production scale (8,000-10,000 units/year vs. historical highs) with heavy reliance on licensed IP (confidence: high) — Gary Stern: 'The pinball business world-wide...is maybe 10 percent...we have restructured ourselves to operate well and profitably and at a significantly lower level'
- **[community_signal]** Grassroots community maintaining engagement through Pinball Expo (19th annual in Rosemont) with collector base introducing younger generation; continued player base awaiting new content (confidence: medium) — Article on Pinball Expo: 'collectors and fans have done a good job of introducing their children to the game, which keeps a steady flow of younger attendees coming to the event'
- **[market_signal]** Secondary market for classic pinball machines showing appreciation: machines built 7-8 years prior commanding higher prices than original retail (confidence: high) — Gene Cunningham: 'Some of the machines built seven or eight years ago are bringing more now than when they were new'
- **[market_signal]** Private home collections and basement playrooms emerging as growing market segment as machines become too expensive for bar/arcade operators to lease and maintain (confidence: medium) — Article: 'a growing number of machines go straight to private residences and basement playrooms. Pinball has become too expensive for many bars and arcades to offer'
- **[market_signal]** Commercial venue market contracting sharply; Golden Tee video golf and touchscreen games displacing pinball floor space in bars and arcades due to lower maintenance requirements and operational costs (confidence: high) — Steve White and Gary Colabuono commentary on service intensity and venue real estate allocation; Jen Webber player testimony on Golden Tee displacement
- **[sentiment_shift]** Player perception of modern pinball games declining due to perceived overemphasis on gimmicks at expense of gameplay and short play duration (confidence: medium) — Christina Mann and Jen Webber player quotes on gameplay issues and lost enthusiasm for modern titles

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## Transcript

Story
dated
26 April, 2003

Chicago's Tribune
newspaper recently ran an interesting article about pinball in the
city, but it is a familiar story echoed the world over.

In the story Jason Compton
interviews many people about the state of the game including Stern's
Gary Stern and Illinois Pinball's Gene Cunningham.

Computers and PlayStations
have finished what Atari started almost 30 years ago--flipping pinball
into obscurity.

The rows of blinking, clanging
and silver-ball-bumping games in arcades and local bars largely have
disappeared. A generation of gamers thinks the Pinball Wizard is a
character from a Harry Potter novel.

Yet in Chicago, once the
capital of a thriving international pinball business, the game is
hanging on.

"I enjoy pinball,
whenever there's one in a bar," said Chicago resident Christina
Mann, after playing at Champs Sports Bar and Grill in Morton Grove.

Finding a machine is the
tricky part.

Two or three new games
a year are produced in the Chicago area, which is a far cry from the
heyday, when two new games a week would hit the streets.

Stern Pinball of Melrose
Park is the lone maker of new pinball machines, producing 8,000 to
10,000 tables per year since President Gary Stern, a second-generation
pinball devotee, bought the company back from Sega in 1999.

Stern runs his business
on modest--and profitable--expectations.

"The pinball business
world-wide is not as large as 10 years ago. It's maybe 10 percent,"
he said. "There's a market for that, enough business for that,
and we have restructured ourselves to operate well and profitably
and at a significantly lower level."

The majority of the games
produced by Stern since its rebirth have been well-known licensed
names, from the Simpsons to Harley-Davidson and even a computer game,
RollerCoaster Tycoon.

Stern's approach is faring
better than the Pinball2000 concept that WMS Industries Inc., the
one-time giant of Chicago pinball when it was known as Williams Electronics
Games Inc., introduced in the late 1990s before getting out of the
business in 1999.

Pinball2000 used a floating-projection
screen to show high-resolution graphics to players without drawing
their eyes from the table. But players weren't excited by this blend
of technology, and Williams exited the market entirely after making
just a few Pinball2000 games.

"Our goal was to breathe
new life into pinball and try to fuse these two elements--video and
pinball--together as one," said Dave Mueller, a Midway Games
employee who worked as a 3-D artist on Pinball2000. He said that the
small market didn't provide many opportunities to make the new concept
succeed.

"I don't think we
were ever given a chance to prove ourselves over the long haul."

Mann said modern pinball
games discourage fans by overemphasising gimmicks at the expense of
gameplay.

"You don't get a lot
of play time," she said.

Another reason why it has
become increasingly difficult to find a place to play is that a growing
number of machines go straight to private residences and basement
playrooms. Pinball has become too expensive for many bars and arcades
to offer.

"A pinball game is
a service-intense piece of equipment," said Steve White, Wilmette-based
editor of RePlay, an amusement industry trade magazine. He said that
rather than send out trained service technicians, it is easier for
the leasing companies that operated most pinball machines to replace
them with lower-maintenance games.

Marco Rossignoli, author
of the book "Pinball Memories--Forty Years of Fun 1958-1998,"
said that poorly maintained pinball machines have done as much damage
to the market as video games.

"Kids or adults who
have an initial interest in pinball, or perhaps are playing a game
for the first time, get ripped off ... with a pinball game that is
not working properly and don't ever play again," Rossignoli said.

One of the biggest problems
for pinball is that it simply cannot find a home.

Its traditional floor space
in taverns is being taken up by smaller, lower-maintenance competitors,
such as the popular video golf game Golden Tee.

Arlington Heights resident
Jen Webber, who spent more than 45 minutes playing Golden Tee at Champs,
with an empty pinball game next to her, credits the golf game with
dousing her fire for pinball.

"I used to love pinball,
but there are no good games anymore. Golf, you need a little more
thought for," she said.

"We really are one
of the reasons for the decline of pinball," said Gary Colabuono,
director of marketing for Arlington Heights-based Incredible Technologies
Inc., makers of Golden Tee. "We took the real estate that was
allocated for the pinball machine."

Although rumours that Incredible
might make pinball games swirled after the company hired acclaimed
pinball designer Mark Ritchie, Colabuono said there is no story there.
"We hired him because he's a great game designer."

What space Golden Tee hasn't
eaten has been widely cut away by touchscreen games, such as trivia
or solitaire, which are small, cheaply made and can sit on the bar
itself. Unlike pinball or even a classic arcade game, touchscreen
machines offer diversionary

entertainment rather than a test of reflex and skill. The other great
haven of pinball, the arcade, has itself become endangered.

"Arcades of the '80s
were so popular with teens because they could get an experience that
they could not get at home. Now, that's entirely opposite," Colabuono
said. "PlayStations and X-boxes, they're powerful, powerful machines,
and they give you more than you can get with a coin-op experience.
If it weren't for the bar market, we'd have no place to put games."

Gene Cunningham, president
of Bloomington-based Illinois Pinball Co. does see some potential
for growth.

The company is a distributor
and manufacturer of pinball parts and has grown rapidly through acquisition,
buying up the parts stocks of three manufacturers that shut down in
the '90s, including Williams. But Cunningham also bought the rights
to build Capcom pinball games and said he is in negotiations to acquire
Williams' mothballed designs as well.

He foresees re-releasing
classic titles, saying that the market has proven it will buy the
best sellers. "Some of the machines built seven or eight years
ago are bringing more now than when they were new."

Meanwhile, pinball fans
are keeping the faith.

In October, Rosemont will
host the 19th annual Pinball Expo, which brings together industry
figures of the past and present with players from around the world.
Expo chairman Robert Berk said that collectors and fans have done
a good job of introducing their children to the game, which keeps
a steady flow of younger attendees coming to the event.

And players like Glen Morhlein
of Skokie, who plays pinball twice a week, are waiting for more.

"Hang in there, because
there are people out there who want to play," he said.

Nostalgic for a game of
pinball? Here's a few places where you can play:

ESPN Zone, 43 E. Ohio, Chicago

Underground Lounge, 952 W. Newport Ave., Chicago

Champs Sports Bar and Grill, 9001 Waukegan Rd., Morton Grove

Season Tickets, 50 N. Barrington Rd., Streamwood

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index

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page

©
Pinball News 2003

_(Acquisition: raw_text, Enrichment: v1)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: f2b3db5f-132b-4af0-b6e3-3de309a0c376*