Steve Kordek is a legendary pinball designer who shaped the industry across multiple decades and manufacturers. He worked at Gottlieb (1937-1957/58), Bally (briefly in 1959), and Williams (1960-1999), designing iconic games including Triple Action and Two Player Basketball. He is credited with establishing the standard flipper orientation (facing each other at the bottom of the playfield) and was honored as one of four foundational designers at the first Pinball Expo in 1985, where he remained an active supporter and panelist.
No aliases
No relationships
No facts recorded
Steve Kordek worked at Williams for 63 years, longer than Harry Williams himself
Steve Kordek placed flippers at the bottom of the playfield in 1947
Steve Kordek lived to nearly 101, close to Neyens' 104 year lifespan
Steve Kordek invented or significantly developed the flipper mechanism for pinball machines on Humpty Dumpty in 1947-1948.
Chief engineer at Williams; visited Atari with Mike Strohl to recruit Ritchie
Williams legendary designer; worked with Mark on Sorcerer; known for precision shot design; had disagreements with Mark about Sorcerer rule mechanics but relationship described as collaborative.
Legendary Williams engineer; worked with Barry in engineering department; referenced as a key technical mentor
Legendary Williams pinball designer who worked alongside Norm Clark; they collaborated on playtesting but designed individual games independently
Legendary Williams pinball designer mentioned as someone who could have designed multi-level pinball but didn't.
Legendary pinball designer; designed Triple Action (1948) at Genco, which introduced the standard flipper orientation
No linked glossary terms
Steve Kordek did not design Step Up (1947) because his mainline design work started in 1948-49
Steve Kordek was chief engineer for Williams and organized/preserved documentation during company's final days in 1999
Triple Action (1948) was the first pinball machine to feature two flippers at the bottom of the playfield.
Sam Stern was fired from Williams in 1969 rather than voluntarily leaving, according to Steve Kordek's recollection
Steve Kordek chose not to manufacture Harry Williams' designs at Williams Manufacturing because he preferred to develop his own designs
Steve Kordek designed Triple Action in 1948 at Genco, the first game to place flippers in the standard bottom-out orientation
Vacation America (2002) was the last machine Kordek worked on
Space Mission and Grand Prix, both Kordek designs from 1976, each had more than 10,000 units manufactured
Kordek invented drop targets, first appearing on the Vagabond machine
The two-flipper bottom-of-playfield configuration invented by Kordek became the industry standard
Kordek began his pinball career in 1947 at Genco Manufacturing after a chance encounter sheltering from rain
Kordek sold more than 200,000 pinball games over his 56-year career
Kordek designed over 100 different pinball machine layouts
Steve Kordek died on February 19, 2012, at age 100
Kordek is turning 98 and recently underwent a major operation
Kordek entered the pinball industry by accidentally walking into the Genco factory during a rainstorm in Chicago in 1936-1937
Triple Action (1948) featured only 2 flippers at the bottom and established the design standard still used today
Williams controlled over 70% of world pinball production during the Kordek-Clark partnership era
Kordek and Norm Clark alternated designing games for Williams for 15 years, with each reviewing the other's work
Vagabond was the first pinball machine to use a drop target mechanism
Harvey Heiss was the main designer at Genco when Kordek joined and mentored him in game design
Kordek started the Century Club to bring pinball professionals together to discuss industry issues
Norm Clark's first game, King Pin (1962), remains highly sought-after by collectors
Steve Kordek designed over 100 pinball machines during his career
Steve Kordek started working at Genco in 1937 at age 26 after randomly entering their factory during a rainstorm on Ashland Avenue in Chicago
Genco was the only pinball manufacturer using DC-powered coils (with rectifiers) instead of AC power, giving it unique design capabilities that competitors could not replicate without massive retooling costs
Williams and Bally only adopted DC-powered coils after WWII with the introduction of selenium rectifiers, whereas Genco had been using DC since the 1930s
During WWII, Kordek was put in charge of 800+ workers in Genco's soldering operations for military walkie-talkie production
The Genco Two Player Basketball game allowed players to aim player figurines left/right, whereas the competing Chicago Coin version had fixed-aim players controlled by the machine
Kordek joined Williams in 1960 as a replacement for designer Harry Mab, who was in his 70s and 'losing it'
Kordek designed Triple Action in December 1947 in just 4-5 weeks as an emergency replacement when Harvey Heiss was hospitalized
Steve Kordek retired in December 2000 after 63 years in the pinball industry
Williams designer whose playfield layout philosophy influenced Chicago Coin Moon Shot's pole-bumper arrangement
Pinball game designer. Designed Space Odyssey, one of John Chad's favorite electromechanical games.
Legendary pinball designer at Williams; designed Space Mission and Grand Prix; first industry figure Berk met in person (1971); influenced Berk's vision for honoring designers
One of the fathers of pinball, award named in his honor (Best Game Experience Award)
Legendary Williams pinball designer; subject of photo documentation featuring industry meetings and events
Pinball industry figure who shared history about production line work at Genco on machines like Victory; mentioned as Expo guest
Pinball pioneer whom Dwight Sullivan identified as the most significant person he has met in the pinball industry
Legendary Williams pinball designer; deeply respected by Barry Oursler and cited as most influential figure to many designers' careers; known for inventing drop target mechanism.
Legendary pinball designer with 50+ years in the industry and 100+ machines designed; pioneer of drop target mechanism and two-flipper bottom layout; worked at Genco, Bally, and Williams; age 98 at time of interview
Legendary Williams designer; visited Ritchie at Atari with Mike Stroll; had his production record beaten by Flash and resented Ritchie as a result
Williams/Stern engineer deeply associated with the company's identity and legacy; advocated for preserving traditional design approaches; resistant to certain changes but not opposed to evolution.
Pinball designer; created Triple Action, Schelberg's first machine that he owns
Pinball industry veteran; worked with Cameron Silver on Ticket Tac Toe and remains a friend
Legendary pinball designer; credited with inventing flippers on pinball machines (Humpty Dumpty, 1947-1948); deceased; Jack regrets not meeting him while interested in pinball.
Credited with innovating flipper placement in pinball machines
Historical pinball industry figure whose stories resonated throughout the industry, subject of a toast at early Pinball Expos, worked at Genco
Classic pinball designer; designed Skylab (first game Dennis owned); started at Genco and later did mainline design work from 1948-49 onward
Williams EM designer; designed Heat Wave (Pinside #1) and Teacher's Pet (Pinside #2); Dennis owns two Kordek games
Pinball designer referenced in Dennis's designer ranking list; mentioned by EM enthusiast Nick
Legendary early pinball designer (1940s-1960s); invented two-flipper bottom layout (Triple Action, 1948), modern drop targets (Vagabond, 1962), multiball with playfield locks (Beat the Clock, 1963); Dennis's #2 designer
Legendary Williams pinball designer (1937-2000); worked at Williams for 63 years; invented bottom flipper placement (1947), drop targets (Vagabond, 1962), multiball (Beat the Clock, 1963); head of Williams design department; designed Grand Prix (1976)
Legendary pinball designer, chief engineer at Williams who preserved documentation during company's final days in 1999
Pinball designer at Williams Electronics; received phone call from Zale on June 18, 1963, regarding Bally's financial crisis; presumably knew Zale from Genco.
Williams pinball designer who joined the company as Harry Williams was departing; preserved many of Harry's design files despite not choosing to manufacture them
Historical pinball designer credited with flipper invention; mentioned in documentary
Industry patriarch who retired December 2000 after 63 years in pinball; was archiving Williams pinball materials post-closure
Legendary pinball designer (1912-2012) who revolutionized flipper design and created 100+ games; died age 100
Iconic legendary pinball designer recognized as mentor/influence to Barry Oursler
Legendary pinball designer credited with designing the 1948 Triple Action, the first machine to feature two flippers at the bottom of the playfield
Vintage pinball designer; created 7-Up (circa 1970), cited by Lawlor as a favorite classic
Williams pinball executive who requested game concepts (Pirate Island, Hey Bartender!) with 13-light display constraint in 1986
Genco designer working during era of gambling pinballs and uprights; associated with innovative game design
Pinball great and design influence cited by Pat Lawlor
Pinball legend who completed playfield design and rules refinement for Vacation America after John Trudeau relocated
Influential team member on Barry Oursler's Williams pinball teams
Classic pinball designer; Jack Hager created concept art for unrealized games using Kordek playfield designs with 13 insert lights
Pioneer pinball designer with 60+ year career; entered industry accidentally similar to Borg's origin story; started at Genco.
Pinball designer honored at first Expo banquet; one of four designers collectively credited with designing over 600 machines
Historical pinball designer; referenced in Mount Rushmore discussion for popularity of 'signs' games
Legendary Williams pinball designer; one of four honored designers at first Expo (along with Harvey Heiss, Norm Clark, Wayne Neyens); recognized for designing 600+ machines
Historical pinball figure who lived to approximately 100-101 years old, close to Neyens' lifespan
Legendary pinball designer, deceased; worked under Harvey Heiss; attended early Expos
Figurehead of game design at Williams in early 1990s; at 80-81 years old when Dr. Dude was pitched, showed openness to experimental concepts; described as intently listening to unconventional pitches
Legendary pinball designer credited with establishing standard flipper orientation facing each other at bottom of playfield
Williams pinball designer; original Expo supporter 1985; panelist on first 'Meet the Pinball Designers' seminar; facilitated cross-manufacturer dialogue
Pinball designer honored at first Pinball Expo banquet (1985) as one of four foundational designers
Williams employee and fan of Trudeau's Chicago Cubs game; recruited him to Williams
Legendary pinball/arcade designer; worked at Gottlieb 1937-1957/58, then Bally briefly in 1959, then Williams 1960-1999; designed Triple Action, Two Player Basketball, numerous other games; interviewed in this episode
Designer who worked on Ticket Tactic; helped determine rules for the game
Mentioned as Bally Williams employee who possibly stockpiled schematics and documentation before division shutdown
Creator of homebrew Led Zeppelin pinball game with innovative 'Stairway to Heaven' mechanic